Legacy One-Shots
by ChiggerD
Summary: Stories related to the Legacy series that don't fit in the normal books, such as shorts, crossovers, the holiday spin offs, amino events, deleted scenes, and requests\trades. All will go in here. All chapters will be marked if they are "canon" or not, but most will not be. Reading the main stories first is highly recommended.
1. Horror Special

LoH October Horror Special: The Silence of Inkopolis. (Non-Canon)

 **Warning: This is a serious horror story, and does have some graphic violence and blood. Probably not M level, but close to it. I also recommend being familiar with the rest of Legacy of Humanity before reading this, or at least the first half of arc 2. This was originally going to be a side story, but i decided to release it as a one chapter spin off instead.** **takes place between Splatfest and homecoming. Props to anyone who knows what series this takes inspiration from.**

Levin, Shara and Kirk, were wondering around the old memorial shrine in the outskirts of Inkopolis. While the Inklings didn't bury their dead like the humans, the shrine itself was a testament to lost loved ones. Many names were etched in the shrines numerous monument stones, including those that died in the great turf war. However, the fact that it was night, and lighting was poor in the area, made the trio rather uneasy. It didn't help that a heavy fog had settled in and reduced their vision.

"Where the heck is Neptune? She said she wanted to meet us here!" Shara growled. Levin took the opportunity to poke fun at her.

"Aw, you aren't scared of a little dark shrine, are you? I thought you were supposed to be the mature one."

"Do you want me to hit you again?" She snapped back. "Besides, I don't like disrespecting the dead. If we aren't here to pay respect, then we should leave."

"We gotta wait for Neptune first. Should we look for her?" Kirk asked.

"We might as well. I swear, this had better be good. Kirk, go double check the entrance. Levin, Take a look around the monuments. I'll check the shrine itself."

"As you wish, boss lady," Levin said sarcastically. He moved over to the monument stones, and began looking for signs of Neptune. After about a minute, he glanced over, and saw that Shara was hesitating. "Are you seriously scared? I'll go first if you really-"

"BOO!" Neptune suddenly jumped out of her hiding spot, and grabbed Levin's shoulders. Hearing Levin's high pitched scream, Shara whipped around, and pointed her splattershot pro at Neptune, while Kirk came running from the far side.

"NEPTUNE! WHAT THE HELL?!" Having been scared out of his wits, Levin was nearly hyperventilating while yelling at Neptune at the same time.

"I should have known you would pull something like this," The irritated Kirk said. "Did you seriously call us here just for a joke? And... what are you wearing?"

"Oh, this? You remember that elder race holiday that Drake told us about? Hallow.. something?" Neptune responded. She was wearing a small black tank top, black short shorts, had a pair of fake bat wings on her back, a pair of small horns on her head and an arrow shaped tail pinned on her butt.

"You mean the one where kids would dress up in costumes, and try to get free candy?" Kirk asked.

"Yeah, that one. After he told us about that, I got to thinking what kind of creature I would dress up as, and decided to do a little cosplay. What do you think of my little devil outfit?"

"Did you say little devil? That's so.. you," Kirk replied.

"Oh, why thank you, Kirk! Shall I take your soul first?" Neptune's grin made it hard to tell if she was being sarcastic or not. Shara walked up to the bickering duo, in an attempt to break them up.

"Okay, Neptune. You'd better have a good reason for bringing us out-" Shara stopped, as she was suddenly cut off by the sounds of sirens off in the distance.

"What's going on? Are we under attack? Don't tell me the Octarians are invading," Levin said.

"I hope not. I'm going to call Otome. Maybe she can tell us something. Kirk, Neptune, you two try calling the squid sisters. Levin, you call Cuttlefish." As soon as Shara barked the orders, she dialed the Octoling's number, but the phone refused to connect.

"I can't get through to them!" Kirk said, as the sirens grew louder.

"My texts aren't being sent either!" Neptune added, who was getting rather worried.

"No luck with Cuttlefish. My phone isn't even on the network!" Levin said, and turned to the group. "We'd better head to the studio- WHAT THE HELL?" The lights in the courtyard instantly went out, and the area became pitch black. Then, the sirens cut out. "What happened? Why is it so dark? GUYS, LOOK UP!" The group all turned their attention towards the sky, expecting to see the stars, but the sky was completely black.

"What happened to the stars? The moon is gone too," Kirk said. "I can't see a thing."

"Hold on. Let me get my flashlight. Tell me I wasn't the only one who brought one," Shara said, as she fished her light from her equipment bag.

"I brought mine. Give me a second." Neptune retrieved her light from her bag, and switched it on at the same time Shara activated hers.

"Are- are you guys seeing this?" Levin said, as the the pair of flashlights scanned the courtyard. The scenery had taken a drastic and disturbing change. The walls were grimy and coated with rust. The ground was covered in dried blood, and the monuments were replaced by corpses being suspended by rusty chains. The shrine was giving off an evil aura, as the wooden architecture had become metallic.

"Is this somebodies idea of a sick joke? I think I'm going to throw up," Kirk said, suppressing the urge to vomit. Suddenly, their squid phones came to life, and started emitting static.

"What? What's wrong with my phone?" Neptune said, as she tried to silence the noise. "Huh? It won't turn off."

"Guys, get your weapons ready! Somebody is coming!" Kirk and Levin quickly raised their weapons, and aimed where Shara was pointing to. From the corner of the shrine, an Inkling had emerged, and was slowly walking towards them.

"Hey! You okay over there? Can you tell us what's going on?" Levin yelled.

"Stay back! Something is wrong with that guy." Heeding Shara's warning, Levin and Kirk took another look at the approaching inkling. His skin was gray, and his tentacles were pitch black. His eyes were also completely black, and an odd liquid was oozing from them. The Inkling started to charge.

"Ah, sharkshit! Shoot it, you guys!" Not having to be told twice, Kirk unloaded on the Inkling with his mini splatling.

"W-what? My shots had no effect?" Kirk stared as the pellets simply bounced off and hit the ground. Levin took a shot with his blaster. The ink ball didn't seem to cause any damage, but the force of the impact caused the figure to stagger a bit. The kids took the opportunity to flee from the shrine.

"Guys, the gate! Give me a hand!" Neptune grabbed the gate, and with help from Kirk, managed to shut it, cutting them off from the creature. Their phones stopped playing the static, and returned to their normal state.

"That.. was too close..." Levin said between breaths."What in the hell was that thing? And- Oh, guys! Look down!" After exiting the shrine, they should have been back on the road, but under their feet, was a metal grating that was similar to those used on catwalks. Under the metal, was quite literally, nothing. Just empty, bottomless, blackness. "What has happened to Inkopolis?"

"Let's just try to get back to the studio. Neptune and I will take light duty. You two cover our backs." After walking a bit, they began to hear a strange sound.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

"Hey, you guys hear that?" Levin asked, while looking for a target for his ranged blaster.

Drip...Drip...Drip... Their squid phones began to emit static again.

"Levin, do you see anything?" Shara asked, while trying to pinpoint the sounds with her light.

Drip...Drip...Drip... The static was much louder now.

"LEVIN! TALK TO-" Shara went silent, as her flashlight found the source of the sound. Behind them, was what looked like a partially transformed Inkling. Only it was as large as a truck, and it's head was formed into the shape of a cone. The truly horrific part, was its arms were shaped into long spikes. One of which, was pierced directly into Levin's chest. Neptune let out a scream, as the creature lifted his body, and tossed it aside. Kirk unloaded his splatling on the creature, but again, the ink had no effect.

"Come on! We have to leave now!" Shara yelled.

"What? But Levin-"

"WE HAVE TO GO!" Leaving Levin's body behind, they took off running towards the center of the city at full speed. Trying to find their way to the plaza proved to be difficult, as the only light source left was their flashlights, and the grotesque scenery made it almost impossible to use markings to find their route. Even worse, their squid phones began to emit static again.

"LANDSHARK!" Neptune yelled, and pointed with her flashlight. Keeping pace with them, was a pack hunter that was also gray, and had completely lifeless black eyes.

"How did it get inside the city?" Kirk didn't bother trying to shoot ink again, and threw a burst bomb instead. The creature was staggered, and lost its footing. Thinking they had defeated it, they didn't notice that the shark had gotten back on its legs after only a few seconds. It was only too late that they noticed that it had caught up again. Kirk tried to throw another bomb, but the creature pounced, and knocked him to the ground.

"AHH! NO! AAAAAGGGGH!" Kirk screamed, as the shark tared into him.

"Kirk! NO!" Neptune yelled, and tried to go help him. Shara quickly grabbed her, and held her back. "Let me go!"

"We can't help him! Come on, or we're next!" Neptune reluctantly agreed, and the two changed course into a nearby alley. After weaving through the narrow paths, they reached a dead end. "What? This fence shouldn't be here." Dumbfounded, the two stared at the fence that was blocking their path, and didn't notice the static coming from their phones. When they finally turned around, they were cornered by several more gray pack hunters.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

"Quick, squid jump over it!" But before they could do anything, the sound of sirens could be heard again, and after a few seconds, the sharks all retreated. The lights came back on, the fog returned, and the fence that was blocking them had vanished, along with the grotesque scenery. Not waiting to see if the dripping creature was still around, they started running again, and eventually found their way to the plaza.

"Where is everybody? There should still be plenty of squids hanging around." The plaza was completely empty, and Shara's efforts to find help were in vein. Hoping to be able to find the squid sisters, she tried to enter the studio. "What? The door won't open!" The door didn't appear to be locked, but rather was being held shut, as if a strange force was preventing them from entering. The sounds of crying soon caught Shara's attention.

"Neptune? Get a hold of yourself! We're going to get to the bottom of this."

"W-who cares about that? I-It's all my f-fault!" The sobbing Neptune managed to get out. Shara was taken aback, as she had never seen her act like this. She walked back over to where Neptune was standing, and tried to get her to calm down.

"What do you mean? You didn't have anything to do with this!"

"B-but if I hadn't p-played that s-stupid joke, L-Levin wouldn't have... Kirk w-would still be..."

"Neptune... you couldn't have known something like this would happen. None of us could. We both know creatures like that don't exist. Never mind the mutant Inklings and sharks."

"B-but..."

"Listen! We're both alive, and I would like to keep it that way. If this really was your fault, I would have fed you to those pack hunters."

"O-okay. Sorry, Shara." Neptune finally stopped crying, and looked around the plaza. "The fog has gotten so thick. I can barely see the transport lobby from here."

"This definitely isn't Natural," Shara replied. "Can you check the shopping center? I'll try the lobby." Shara walked over to the lobby entrance to try the door. The automated door didn't open. She tried forcing it, but like with the studio, the door seemed like it was being held shut. After kicking it in anger, she walked over to meet with Neptune. "The lobby is completely locked down. Any luck with the shops?"

"Nothing. The doors were locked, and I didn't see anyone inside the windows," Neptune replied.

"What the hell is going in our city?" Pondering what to do next, Shara didn't notice the sound of approaching footsteps.

"Shara? Neptune?" Startled by the sudden voice, Shara whipped around, and raised her splattershot pro. "Whoa! Whoa! It's just us!" She took a closer look at the figures that had spoken to them, and noticed that at was Callie and Marie.

"Thank goodness you're safe," Callie said. "You're the first Inklings we've seen since the city went crazy."

"Well, the first living ones, that is," Marie added. "Have you seen Levin or Kirk? I've been trying to get a hold of everyone, but our phones seem to be out."

Neptune looked away and sobbed again, while Shara's face went dark. "Kirk was eaten by one of those gray sharks, and Levin... Levin was impaled by a cone shaped monster."

"No... Why did this happen?" Callie was on the verge of tears, and Marie kicked a piece of trash in anger.

"DAMN IT!" Marie cursed. She came to a realization, and looked back at Shara. "Wait, did you say cone shaped?"

"You saw it too?" Shara asked.

"I'm afraid so," Marie said, and glanced at Callie, who nodded in response. "We were visiting Gramps when this mess started. Then we heard the sirens, and this... thing just came out of the ground."

"It- it killed gramps.." Callie said, in a low voice. "Then the possessed Inklings started showing up."

"We've been looking for other survivors, but we were about to give up when we ran into you two."

"S-so what do we do now?" Neptune asked, as she tried to recompose herself.

"We should probably find somewhere safe to hide. Any ideas?" Marie responded. The group pondered this for a moment, until Neptune spoke up.

"What about... the humans? Maybe they can help us."

"That's not a bad idea, but only Drake and Otome know where to find them. Besides, we don't speak their language. We would need Drake or his translator," Marie said.

"Oh, you're right. But we can't just sit here," Neptune said.

"Why don't we head to our apartment, for now. If it's safe, you two can stay with us." The squid sisters took the lead, and headed away from the plaza. There were many possessed Inklings roaming the streets, which slowed their progress. Eventually, they noticed that their phones would emit static when ever they were close to one of the monsters, and used that to navigate their way through the thick fog. They were walking through a narrow alley, when they heard loud roars behind them.

"Shoot, they found us!" Callie yelled, and the group took off running, with a group of possessed Inklings in pursuit. They ran through the alley at full speed, but the monsters were starting to gain on them. Taking a wrong turn, they ended up on a street that lead to a dead end. However, at the end of the path, they could see a garage with its shutters open. A voice from inside the garage yelled at them.

"There's another one! Hey, you! In here!" The squid sisters were first to reach the garage, and several hands reached out and pulled them inside. "Close the shutter!" The voice barked, as Neptune and Shara followed them inside. Shara quickly kicked the lock that was holding the shutter open, and it closed with a loud crash.

"Drake? Otome? Is that you?" Neptune was staring in disbelief at the fact that they had managed to run into the human and Octoling.

"I thought it was you guys. You're really lucky we were still here," Drake said. "And Neptune, what are you wearing? Don't tell me this is because I told you about Halloween," he asked, referring to her little devil cosplay.

"I-It's something I made. I thought the boys would like it..."

"Wait a minute. What happened to them?" Otome asked, as she noticed that Kirk and Levin were not with them.

"They... didn't make it" Shara responded for Neptune, and both Drake and Otome cursed under their breath. Now that they were safe, Neptune took a closer look at their friends. Drake was cut in several locations, and had a lot of dried blood on him. He had several large tanks attached to his back that were hooked up to a menacing looking human weapon. Otome's goggles were broken, and her armor was cracked in several places. She was armed with a human assault rifle.

"I'm really glad that you two are safe," Callie said, as she caught her breath. "But what are you doing here?"

"We've been trying to help the few survivors we came across," Drake responded. "We tried to convince them to leave the city, but most of them insist on hiding in their homes. The most we have been able to do is hand out guns." Drake glanced at Otome, who reached into a nearby crate. She retrieved several human weapons from inside, and passed them to the Inklings. Callie received a shot gun, Marie was given a long rifle, and the kids were handed sub-machine guns. "We brought these from Eden, when things went belly up."

"Wait, human weapons work on those things?" Shara asked in surprise.

"It takes a lot of shots to kill just one, but they do work. The only really effective way to kill them is with fire. Unfortunately, this is the only flamethrower we have," Drake said, and pointed to the weapon he was holding.

"I think it's about time we get out of here," Otome said, and looked at the Inklings. "Are you four with us?" They all nodded in response.

"We were going to try to barricade ourselves at the Eden facility. The rest of my people disappeared, but there weren't any monsters," Drake said.

"We can worry about where to go once we are out of the city," Marie said. Otome opened up the back door of the garage, and checked to see if there were any possessed Inklings outside.

"I think it's clear. Let's get moving." The group exited the garage, and were back on the streets. Drake fired up his flamethrower, and took the lead.

"Stay behind me, and watch my back," he said, as they moved down the deserted streets. As they made their way towards the city limits, they encountered a number of possessed Inklings. Drake's flamethrower made short work of them, and the combined fire power of their new firearms took care of the monsters that tried to attack from the rear, though they did use a lot of their ammunition in the process. Only a few minutes away from the city walls, a large pileup of cars blocked the exit road and a blazing fire prevented them from climbing over.

"Great, what now?" The irritated Otome asked.

"There's a side path to the right that will take us around this mess. It's a narrow alley, though," Marie said, and pointed to a path between the various buildings.

"Damn it! I'm getting tired of these narrow passages. It's like the city itself is against us," Shara said, as they entered the narrow passage. Due to the confined space, they had to move in pairs, with Drake and Otome in front, and the squid sisters in the rear. As if the city had heard Shara's curses, they suddenly heard sirens in the distance.

"Oh, no... not again," Neptune said, and watched in horror as the darkness consumed Inkopolis, once again. The lights went out, the fog disappeared, and the grotesque scenery came into view of their flashlights. The concrete below them melted away, and was replaced by the rusty metal catwalks that separated them from the eternal darkness below. As if that wasn't enough, their squid phones began to emit static again.

"Ah, hell! Land sharks!" Marie yelled, and pointed at the groups rear. A large pack of gray sharks were rapidly approaching. Drake quickly pushed passed, and moved in front of the squid sisters.

"Keep moving! I'll deal with them!" He shouted.

"But.." Callie started to protest.

"Just go!" He shouted back. As Drake begin burning them with the flamethrower, the group hesitated, and was unsure of what to do. However, a few seconds later, they heard him scream. "AHHHH! DAMMIT! GET OFF ME! AAAACCCKK!" Most of the sharks had been incinerated, but a few of them had broken through the stream of fire, and pounced on Drake, knocking the nozzle out of his hands. They were biting into his chest, and he was rapidly losing blood.

"Drake! Damn it, get out of the way, Marie!" Otome push forward, and began shooting at the sharks that had pounced on him, while Marie covered her. However, whenever she took one down, another would take its place. Drake used the last of his strength to toss Otome a small object. It was the key to the Eden facility's emergency exit. She caught it, and watched his head drop down. Swallowing her emotions, Otome aimed the rifle at the tanks attached to Drake's back, and fired a single shot. The bullet pierced the tank, and a ball of fire consumed both Drake and the pack hunters that were mauling his body.

"Otome! How could you?" Callie was looking at her with a horrified expression.

"What else could I have done?! I just lost my closest friend! How dare you judge me!" She snapped back.

"He was my friend too! Why didn't you-"

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT THE HELL UP?!" Shara shouted, and pointed to her squid phone. "The sharks are gone, so why are we still getting static?" The group scanned the surrounding buildings with their flashlights to try and pinpoint what was causing the static.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

"Oh, no... It's back!" Neptune said as her eyes went wide. "We need to get out of-" her speech was cut off by a loud crunching sound. They watched in horror, as Marie's now lifeless body, was lifted into the air. The cone shaped monster seemed to raise from the darkness from under them, and one of its spiked arms carried Marie with it.

"Nonononono! This isn't happening! MARIE!" Callie began unloading the shotgun directly into the creature, but like with the ink, the shots had no effect.

"Shara, give me a hand!" Otome yelled, as both of them grabbed Callie, and began to drag her away.

"Let me go! I have to save her!"

"She's gone, Callie! There's nothing we can do! Stop being foolish, and run!" Callie took one last look at her cousin, and with tearful eyes, began to run from the cone shaped creature. The sounds of dripping began to fade, as they put distance between them and the monster. After several minutes of running, they exited the alley, and should have been at the city gates.

"What the... why is this wall here?" Shara asked, as they stared at something that should not exist. Blocking their exit, was a large wall of what looked like flesh. There were numerous dead bodies hanging from the wall.

"It's too big to squid jump over. What do we do?" Neptune asked, as they frantically search for a way out of their predicament.

"Up there!" Shara yelled, and pointed to a hole in the top of the wall that was just low enough for them to jump to. "We'll have to go one at a time, but I think we can get out from there. Otome, you have the key, so you go first."

"Alright, but be careful," Otome said, and jumped to the ledge. As soon as she made the landing, static began to come from their phones.

"They're coming. Callie, you are in no condition to fight, so you're next."

"But.."

"Just go! We'll be fine!" Callie nodded and jumped, as possessed inklings started coming in to view. Neptune and Shara started unloading with their sub-machine guns.

"Neptune, Callie is clear! Get out of here!" Shara reloaded her weapon, as Neptune dropped an approaching monster.

"But I can't leave you!"

"I'll be right behind you. Now go!" Not wanting to argue, Neptune changed to her squid form, and jumped to the ledge. As soon as she reached it, a bright light blinded her, and she was back in the normal world, say for the unusual fog. However, just before the flash of light, she distinctly heard the sound of 'click click click' coming from where Shara stood. The group was now down to three, as Shara never came out of the dark world.

Neptune walked over to where Callie was. She was crying her eyes out, which was understandable. They had all lost several friends, but Callie had lost her grandfather and cousin as well. Otome was trying to comfort her, and they both were apologizing for the horrible things they said to each other. Neptune walked up to Callie, and embraced her. Callie returned the hug, and they let their pent up emotions flow out, as they waited for any sign of Shara. After some time, they decided they could no longer wait for her, and Otome handed Callie the Eden key.

"Why are you giving me this?" The confused Callie asked.

"I-I have to see if my people are okay. They have to be warned," Otome responded with a pained look. "The human base is about an hour's walk from here. Just follow that river until you reach a large rock formation. The hatch is right next to it." Otome turned to leave. "If I don't return, then just try to hold out until this blows over."

"Good luck, Otome. I hope your people are safe," Callie said.

"Thanks, Callie. Good luck to you too." With that, Otome departed to Octovalley. Callie took Neptune's hand, and they made their way to the human outpost. The journey was uneventful, and would have been peaceful if not for the heavy price they paid getting out of the city. Eventually, they reached the emergency exit, and Callie opened it with the key. They climbed down the ladder, and entered the airlock. As they emerged, they looked in horror at the state of the base.

"I thought Drake said this place was clean?" Neptune said, as they looked at their surroundings. The walls and floor were coated in fresh blood and numerous bullet holes. There were no bodies, but it was obvious that the facility was now devoid of life.

"What ever is going on in Inkopolis must have spread here as well," Callie replied. "Since we have no where else to go, let's take a look around." They wondered around the various sections of the base, but saw no signs of survivors. Eventually, they found their way to the medical lab. As they took a look inside, their squid phones started emitting static.

"They're here too? Neptune, give me a hand." Callie quickly closed the door behind them, and Neptune wedged a chair between the door and the floor. They both pointed their weapons at the door. To their surprised, nothing tried to get inside the lab, and what ever was causing the static moved on.

"We aren't going to make it, are we?" The dismayed Neptune said.

"I've lost too many people I care about today. I'm not going to lose you too," Callie said, as she held Neptune close to her. Just when they thought their situation couldn't get any worse, they heard the distinct sounds of sirens. The lights went out, and the medical lab became a true chamber of horrors. Rusty metal and dried blood covered the walls and floor of the room, and several corpses appeared on the now metallic beds, though they were too mutilated to tell if they were human or not. There was a loud banging sound coming from the next room over.

"What? Callie, the door is jammed! We're trapped!" Neptune said, as she tried to force the metal door open.

"That means the monsters can't get in, either. We just need to wait this out," Callie responded. As if on cue, the static on their phones started up again. With their guns drawn, they waited for any signs of the creatures breaking into the medical lab. 10 minutes of this passed, but nothing managed to force it's way in. Eventually, the banging in the next room stopped. However, this was soon replaced with a new sound.

Drip...Drip...Drip...

 **A/N: Welp, this was my first time writing something horror related. Hope I made it scary, and that you all enjoyed it. Be sure to read the rest of Legacy of Humanity if you liked this story. And yes, this took inspiration from Silent Hill, with a touch of classic Resident Evil.**


	2. Squidmas Special

LoH December Special – The 100 Year Old Squidmas. (Non-Canon)

 **Authors Notes: This is another one shot spin off of my main series, The Legacy Of Humanity. I recommend reading the first 2 arcs of LoH before reading this one, though it isn't as heavy dependent on being familiar with the story as the Halloween special was. This special takes place 5 months after arc 2, and is in an alternate timeline where arc 3 never happened and Octavio was never freed.**

It was now December, and the hot temperature had changed to below freezing. The ground, trees, and much of Inkopolis were covered in snow. The weather didn't show any sign of changing, and it appeared Inkopolis would be getting a white Squidmas this year, as it was the eve of the squids favorite holiday.

A wayward seagull had landed in a nearby tree. The bird was looking around with wide eyes, since something had alarmed it. After a few minutes, the bird eased up and dropped its guard. This proved to be a fatal mistake, as a few seconds later, a very loud bang was heard, and hot metal passed through the seagull's body. It's lifeless body fell from the tree, and landed on the ground.

"That's another one for the collection." Drake Von Kaufmann pumped his SPAS-12 shotgun, ejecting the spent shell and replacing it with a fresh one. He picked up the dead seagull, and tossed it into a bag that had a number of similar birds inside. "Only about thirty more to go for our quota."

"I don't know about this, Drake," Brandon said, who was also carrying a shotgun. "I mean, I'm all for having some meat for Christmas, but seagulls? There's probably a reason why you couldn't order them at a fancy restaurant."

"And while this is fun and all, aren't you supposed to shoot them while they are in the air?" Takeshi chimed in.

"That's called saving ammo," Drake responded. "And have you guys seen any ducks, geese, or turkeys? Because if you have, I'll be happy to take those instead."

"Point taken, and I guess I would rather not have a repeat of the time we tried to cook a land shark." Brandon looked up, and saw a group of about 10 more seagulls flying overhead. "Guys, heads up! We got dinner!" The three raised their shotguns, and started unloading buckshot into the flock. After a series of loud booms, they managed to drop 7 of the 10 birds.

"I got three, and you both got two," Takeshi said, as they collected the fallen seagulls. "That puts me in the lead, and we should be well ahead of Matt's group. I think we will have plenty in time for dinner tomorrow."

"I just want to be done, and go back inside. It's freezing out here," Brandon said with a shiver. Even though they were wearing full combat gear, and heavy scarves over their faces, it was still frigid enough that you could see their hot breath with every exhale. As the three humans replaced the spent shells in their shotguns, a voice from behind caught them off guard.

"Whaaa! Those things are so loud!" They turned, and saw the squid sisters sanding behind them. They where wearing heavy winter coats, and were covering their ringing ears. Thankfully, it was now a policy that any human going to the surface had to have an autotran with them.

"Oh! It's Callie and Marie! Man, I feel warmer already!" Takeshi said, who wore a stupid grin on his covered face.

"Isn't it a little cold to be wondering around outside the city? You could have sent me an emote code if you wanted to meet up. Unless you're here to join us on the bird hunt," Drake said.

Marie turned to her cousin. "Don't you have something to ask him, Callie?" With her head lowered and her face red, Callie meekly stepped forward.

"Uh-um, I know you're probably busy.. but.." Callie raised her head, and looked Drake in the eyes. "Would you... like to spend Squidmas.. with us?"

"What's a Squidmas?" Brandon asked the two squid girls.

"The only day in Inkopolis that's more popular than splatfest," Marie responded.

"We usually spend the day with family and close friends. Our houses are all decorated, we put up a nice Squidmas tree, have a tasty dinner, and best of all, open gifts! Y-you never heard of it before?"

"Callie, why would they know about an Inkling holiday?"

"Huh, that sounds a lot like our own winter holiday, Christmas. We're actually gathering birds for tomorrow's dinner," Drake said, and pointed to the bag of dead seagulls.

"You guys eat seagulls?" Marie said with a stunned look.

"Normally, we don't. We just wanted to have something besides produce and dairy for Christmas day, and we're a little short on turkeys and ham," Brandon responded.

"Still better than when we tried to eat a land shark," Takeshi said, and the girls gave him a disgusted look.

"So.. um, would you like to join us, Drake? We're spending today and tomorrow with Gramps, and.. well.." Callie started stuttering.

"Hey! What about us? Don't tell me you're going to ditch us ag-mpfh!" Brandon put his hand over Takeshi's mouth, in an attempt to shut him up.

"What he means is, we'll handle the rest of this if you want to go with them. I'm sure what ever they are having is going to be better then roast seagull."

Drake thought for a moment, then looked back at Callie. "If you're really okay with that, then I think I will take you up on that offer. But first-!" Drake turned and pointed the shotgun at another tree. He pulled the trigger, and after another loud blast, a seagull dropped out of the tree. "Well, lead the way," Drake said, after shouldering the shotgun and handing the bird to the other two guards. After Drake and the girls departed, Takeshi turned to face Brandon.

"Great. We need at least another twenty birds, and now Matt is definitely going to beat us."

1 hour later...

"I still can't fathom how it can get so cold, when the summer was so hot!" Drake was standing behind Callie and Marie, just outside Cuttlefish's shack. All three of them were shivering in the cold, while they waited for Cuttlefish to respond to their knocks. Finally, the door opened, and they ran inside, almost knocking the old inkling over.

"What took you so long?!" Callie said, as they started to warm themselves up by the fire that was currently blazing in the small fire place on the far side of the kitchen.

"Aye, I dozed off for a bit. Sorry about that, girls," Cuttlefish responded. "I see you brought the human lad with you."

"I, uh, hope I'm not intruding, Captain," Drake said. Now that he had warmed up some, Drake removed the thick scarf, took off his armor, and placed the shotgun in the corner.

"Well, Squidmas is about families, and you and the Octoling lass are practically family now. Besides, I'm sure they would have brought you here even if I had said no."

"Squidmas, huh?" Drake looked around the interior of the shack. The insides had been decorated in various holiday themed decor, which Drake assumed were Callie and Marie's work. Near the fire place, there was a medium sized tree that was also decorated, and a number of wrapped boxes were placed underneath. "This really does look like our own Christmas holiday."

"Not familiar with Squidmas, are you lad? There's a story behind it, if you would like to hear."

"There's plenty of time until dinner is ready," Callie said. "And I made us some hot chocolate!" She passed out hot mugs, and the group huddled around the fire place. There were several festive looking cushions placed around it. Cap'n Cuttlefish sat on the one nearest the fire place, and Marie sat down next to him. Callie sat next to Drake, and snuggled up against him, which made Marie smirk. Judd curled up between the two.

Cuttlefish cleared his throat, and began to tell his story. "This story begins about a hundred years ago, near the end of the great turf war. My squidbeak splatoon had won several major victories against the OctoWeapons, and we were tasked with capturing an Octarian fortress, which was all that stood between us and General Octavio's command center..."

1919 O.S.C (13,919 A.D.) 100 years ago...

"INCOMING HOWINKZER SHELLS! GET IN YOUR TRENCHES!" Oleg, a lowly Octotrooper, jumped off of his assault platform, and took cover in the trench walls that surrounded Fort Omega. He shivered in fear, as the ink artillery shells came crashing down around the trench line. Being under constant bombing was the fate of those enlisted in the defensive Guardian Corps.

Howinkzer shells came in a variety of types. The standard shells were simple over sized bombs that had an area of effect that was 5x that of a standard splat bomb. The acid shells would burst in the air, and literally rain down tampered corrosive ink on it's victims. The worst type, were the gas shells that would disperse clouds of partially evaporated ink that would quickly poison anyone in the surrounding area. Luckily, the shells that were hammering the trench line were the standard type.

After enduring several minutes of the artillery fire, the bombardment finally ended. "Thank goodness. They've stopped," said Olga, a female Octotrooper that was also Oleg's future wife.

"For now. Next, they attack. Get back on your assault platforms! Gunners, get the ink cannons ready!" The commanding Octoling yelled. Oleg did as he was told, and jumped back on the gun platform. A wave of approaching Inkling soldiers could be seen crossing over no Oceanic's land, with bamboozlers and early model splattershots at the ready. "Here they come! Open fire!"

Oleg squeezed the trigger on the assault platform's control stick. His platform started firing shots at the approaching soldiers, and he managed to splat an Inkling that ran ahead of the pack. The other Octotroopers also began shooting at the enemy group, along with the ink cannon gunners and the few Octosnipers that were still alive.

"They've slowed down! Howinkzers, load standard shells, and suppress them!" As soon as the commander gave the order, their own artillery started raining down shots on the opposing assault force. Those that weren't immediately splatted, soon began to retreat against the combined cannon and artillery fire.

"They're running away! We pushed them back, ma'am!" Olga shouted. The last Inkling was soon out of sight, and the the remaining defenders breathed a sigh of relief. Oleg went over to where Olga was to see if she was okay. To his relief, she wasn't injured from the bombardment.

"Good work, everyone," the commander said. "But don't get too comfortable. They will be back." Most of the Octolings at Fort Omega were stationed inside the bunkers and kept in reserve in case they had an opportunity to counter-attack, or if the Inklings broke through the trench line and they were needed to protect the artillery crew. Their commander, Captain Kiko Strauss, and her second in command, Lieutenant Orika Maroon, insisted on joining the Octarian regulars on the front line. This earned them a lot of respect from the Octotrooper force.

"Ma'am! Why didn't you use the acid shells? We could have taken out a lot more of them than with the standard shots!" An irritated Twintacle said.

"Because they didn't use them either! I'm not going to use those horrible weapons with out a damn good reason!" Captain Strauss shot back.

"I'm worried about the Cap'n," Oleg said to Olga. "She's pushing herself too hard. This battle has gone on for almost three days, and she hasn't slept once."

"Me, too. Unlike the elitists hiding in the bunker, she's been working her butt off trying to keep us alive!" Olga responded.

"Yeah, but I think they would rather be out here too," Oleg said. "I mean, Cap'n Strauss was the one who ordered them to barricade themselves. If we ever get a chance to counter attack, we will need them to be at full force."

"True, but those damned Mariners should have done something by now! It's their HQ we're protecting, after all. If we lose Fort Omega, the General had better be ready to run!" The two bickered for a few minutes, but realizing the discussion was pointless, they turned their attention to just staying warm in the freezing weather.

"How's everything on your line?" Lieutenant Maroon said, as she walked over to the two Octotroopers.

"Aside from the fact that we're freezing out here, we're managing," Olga responded. "We really need reinforcements, though. I don't know how many more attacks we can take before the line breaks."

"I feel yah, but the General insists that all reinforcements are sent to his operations. Honestly, it's no wonder we are losing this war. With people like him in charge, we might as well-"

"That's a good way to get yourself arrested, Orika," Captain Strauss said, as she came over to check on the line. "You're lucky I don't like him, either." Captain Strauss started fixing her dark tentacles and replaced the kelp stocks that had fallen out during the fighting.

"You wouldn't anyway, because you love us. In a platonic kinda way, of course," Orika responded. The four joked around a bit, enjoying the bit of respite they earned from the fight. After a few minutes, the loudspeaker that was hooked up to the inner bunkers suddenly switched on.

"W-what is this?" Orika asked, as the entire Guardian Corps force looked around in confusion. An unusual song was being played from the communications room. The melody was slow and genteel. The song being played, was a translated version of an extremely old elder race song, known as "Silent night", and the one singing was crowned prince Octanis. He was also the one who originally translated the song. Octanis was stationed at Fort Omega as a Lieutenant, despite the emperor's wishes.

"This is really beautiful," Oleg said, as they listened to the song. After a few minutes, the song ended. Then, Octanis began to sing the song again, but this time, the other Octotroopers joined in, as did the Octolings stationed in the bunker and the howinkzer gun crews. About halfway though, they begin to hear more singing from the other side of no Oceanic's land.

"That's coming from the Inkling trenches. Are they singing along?" The stunned Orika asked.

"I don't know what they are up to, but I guess it's better than being attacked again," Olga said. The song ended, but then begin a third time. This time, it was the Inklings that started the song, and the Octarians were the ones to join in.

"I'm going to go see what our dear prince is up too. You two are in charge." Kiko pointed to Oleg and Olga. "Maroon, you're with me." With Orika in tow, Kiko entered the outer bunker that contained the com room. At the far corner of the small room, prince Octanis, and his assistant, another male Octoling named Corporal Krako, sat at the speaker control box, and had just finished singing Silent Night for the third time.

"What brings you here, Captain?" Octanis asked, as he spotted Kiko and Orika.

"Just wondering why you thought it would be a good idea to start singing in the middle of a battle. And what's with that song, anyway?"

"I was just trying to help the men take their minds of the war for little bit," Octanis responded. He smiled a bit, but then went into a coughing fit. This was the reason that he was assigned to the support staff, as his weak stature insured that he couldn't serve on the fighting force. "Sorry about that," Octanis said, as he regained his composure. "Being as weak as I am, this is really all I can do to keep from being a poor leader."

"You know that's not true, dear prince. Physical strength isn't everything. What you lack in that, you make up for in your wisdom and mercy. That's why everyone here supports you, instead of say, General Octavio," Kiko said.

"Thanks for that, Cap," Octanis responded, as he went into another coughing fit. "But as for the song, well you know the imperial family has a deep interest in the elder race. There was an old holiday, called Christmas or something. Anyway, that song came from a long list of notes I translated. Take a look." Octanis handed Kiko a pile of notes that contained the information he had collected on the elder race holiday.

"I would have sang too, but we know I fail at that," Krako said, making fun of himself.

"That's not true! I-I mean, I like it!" Orika protested, which made Kiko laugh.

"By the way, have you figured out a name for the baby?" Kiko asked, ash she flipped through the notebook.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of naming him Octurus," Octanis responded. "Strong name for my successor, as I doubt my reign will last long." Octanis coughed again.

"How do you know it won't be a girl?" Orika asked.

"I just know. It has to be a boy. And I'll make sure he isn't weak in the heart, like my father."

"P-prince Octanis! Look!" Krako suddenly pointed to the window of the bunker. Kiko quickly pulled out her binoculars to get a better look. In the distance, she saw a squad of about 8 Inklings approaching the fort. They were carrying a white flag, which indicated they wished for a cease fire. "What should we do, Ma'am?"

"This is unusual. They must know we can't surrender the fort. I'm going out to meet them. You two, stay here. Maroon, follow me." After grabbing a makeshift white flag of her own, the two Octolings ordered several Octotroopers to accompany them, including Oleg and Olga. They left the safety of their trenches, and approached the Inkling squad on no Oceanic's land. "Lovely night for a little chat, wouldn't you say?" Kiko said to the Inkling officer.

"Not as Lovely as you are, my dear," the officer responded.

"Ha! You haven't changed a bit since I last saw you on our little date at Ceph amusement park. Which, by the way, you still owe me another. Still the dogfish as ever, I see. In a way, I'm kind of glad. I never expected to see you again, much less find out that you are the leader of the infamous Squidbeak."

"What? Squidbeak? And you know each other?" Orika looked at them with an astonished look.

"I knew this was going to be a trap!" Olga yelled.

"Calm down, you two. If there's one thing I know, it's that he isn't the type to do something like that. Isn't that right, Cap'n Cuttlefish?"

"Aye, you know me well. We would never do something like that after such a wonderful performance. Is that not right, Ammoses?" The big horseshoe crap to his left, nodded. "Oh, and I see you're a Captain yourself, Kiko."

"That's Captain Strauss, Guardian Corps unit 43, now. And this is my second in command, Lieutenant Orika Maroon," Kiko responded. "So what did you want to talk about? If it's about Fort Omega, you know we can't just surrender it."

"True, we need to discuss the battle, but for now, tell me more about that song," Cuttlefish said.

"According to our com officer, this was an old elder race song called Silent Night. It was also part of a holiday called Christmas. It's all in this notebook." Kiko showed Cuttlefish the notes that had been translated by Octanis. He observed with great interest, especially when they reached the part about the decorated tree.

"This looks like it was a lot of fun," Cuttlefish said. "It says here, that Christmas happened on December 25th." Cuttlefish checked his watch, and saw that it was after midnight. "And that is today. Tell me, Kiko, Why don't we give our men a little holiday of their own? I think the war can be put on hold for a little bit."

"If it was anybody else that had suggested this, I would have thought they were insane, but..." Kiko turned to Orika. "What do you think?"

"I- I mean," Orika looked at Cuttlefish, and saw that he was sincere. "I think we should do it. The Octotroopers are spent, and you need a break." Olga wanted to protest, but Oleg placed the top of his tentacle on hers, and gave her a look that said, "Don't".

"Then I guess we have a truce, for now," Kiko said. "So what did you have in mind? If you thinking of Dog fishing on me, you can forget that right now."

"Nothing of the sort, my dear," Cuttlefish turned his attention back to the document. "It says here we need a tree, so let's start with that." Cuttlefish gave an order to the rest of the squad, and they started to cut down a fairly large tree. The Octarians quickly got out of the way when the tree came tumbling down. "Now let's get this back to your line." It took the effort of all 7 Inklings, both Octolings, and the horseshoe crab to haul the tree back to Fort Omega.

"This is quite an amazing sight. I can see why the elder race did this," Oleg said, as he looked at the tree. It had taken them over an hour to plant the tree in the middle of the trench line, and to decorate it to match what was in the notebook. Many of the Inklings had come over to the Octarian line to join in on their little holiday, and most of the Octolings from the bunker and artillery crew had also gathered. They all stood around the tree, sipping hot chocolate that the Inklings had brought over.

As the night progressed, the squids and octos begin to sing Silent Night again, along with several other elder race Christmas songs that had been translated by Octanis. Oleg and Olga huddled together in the trench to protect themselves from the freezing wind, as they sang along with their friends and enemies.

After the singing ended, Cuttlefish turned to Kiko, and noticed that she had finished her hot chocolate, and was starting to shiver from the cold. He undid his scarf that he had handmade himself, and handed it to the Octoling. "I made this for you after our date, but I never had the chance to give it to you. I'm glad that I'm able to give it you now, when you need it the most."

"How sweet of you. I guess you're aren't just a lady killer after all," Kiko said, and wrapped the scarf around her neck. "Actually, I wanted to give you something too." Kiko removed her custom made knitted gloves, and handed them to Cuttlefish. "I think you will find they keep you warmer than what the army gave you."

"How kind of you, my dear. I guess after the war, we'll have to have that second date I promised you," Cuttlefish said, as he put on the gloves.

"Looking sharp, you two!" Orika yelled. "When's the wedding!" As the rest of the company laughed, Kiko gave her a sharp look, and pointed out that Orika had spent most of her time snuggling up to Krako.

Inspired by the exchange of gifts, the other Inklings and Octarians began exchanging small gifts with each other. Orika had given Ammoses a box of Octarian Chocolate, and received inkling gummies in return. Octanis gave a young female Inkling a heavy winter coat, and received a brass locket in return. Oleg and Olga spent time with each other, away from the rest of the group, and promised each other that they would stay together until the end. Something they vowed since the battle of Ceph.

"This was quite a special gathering," Cuttlefish said, as the morning sun began to creep over the trees. "Our very first... Squidmas."

"Squidmas?! Why can't it be Octomas?" Orika shouted from the other side of the Squidmas tree.

"I hate to admit it, but it rolls off the tongue better. Besides, it's not like the losers will have the right to name a holiday," Kiko said. "Thanks for the gift, Cuttlefish, but it's about time we go back to being... you know.. enemies." Kiko paused again, and sighed. "Though if anything else, I wish I could have gotten all of my soldiers home."

"Hmm..." Cuttlefish leaned in and whispered something into Kiko's ear. Her eyes went wide. "Well, I hope I see you again, my dear Kiko." Cuttlefish signaled his men to follow him, and the Inklings slowly made their way back to their lines. The cheery atmosphere of the Fort Omega Squidmas truce was slowly replaced by feelings of loneliness and oppression. Oleg and Olga returned to their assault platforms, as Kiko started reorganizing the trench line. Surprisingly, she ordered all the Octolings, Including Octanis and the Howinkzer crews to remain in the trenches, rather than return to their posts.

"Stay as close to the tree as you can!" Kiko ordered the battalion.

"What do you mean by that, Ma'am?" Oleg asked, as he looked at her with confusion.

"Just trust me! No one is to leave their trenches!" Kiko responded. It didn't take long for Oleg to get his answer, as a number of booms could be heard in the distance.

"HOWINKZER! GET DOWN!" Orika yelled, and ink shells started raining down around the trench line. Both Oleg and Olga abandoned their assault platforms, and huddled in the trench together.

"This is insane! They're throwing everything they have at us!" Krako yelled from other side of the trench line. Orika reached up and pulled him back inside the trench when he tried to run.

"STAY IN YOUR TRENCHES! NO ONE MOVES!" Kiko yelled in response. For the next half hour, the Octarians could do nothing but keep their tentacles down, as the howinkzer artillery continued to pound the area around the trenches. Eventually, the artillery finally stopped. The Octotroopers quickly returned to manning the assault platforms and ink cannons. They expected an attack, but none came.

"Is everyone all right?" Kiko yelled to her squad leaders. One by one, the all reported in, and it appeared that they had taken no losses from the barrage.

"It's a good thing we were all out here in the trenches, because the fort didn't fare to well," Octanis said, as he headed back inside the bunkers. A good portion of the fort had been wrecked by the constant hits from the cannons, and other sections had collapsed. Nearly all of their own howinkzer cannons had also been destroyed.

The Octarians spent several minutes assessing the damage, when Octanis came running back from the communications room. "I just got word that Mariner HQ was attacked by Squidbeak! They challenged Octavio to a fight, and he lost! The war is over!" The Octarians all wore puzzled and confused looks. The war was over, which meant the fighting would end. But this also meant that they had lost, and had no idea what would become of them.

"It was just a matter of time," Kiko said in an effort to calm her soldiers. "We might have lost the war, but no matter what, we are Octarians. We will persevere. You all fought well, and did your duty to both the Guardian Corps and your homeland." This seemed to have calmed them down some, but there was one that still confused.

"Captain, what did that Inkling tell you?" Orika asked.

"Just that I would be getting what I want for Squidmas," Kiko replied, and collapsed in the trench. Her fatigue had finally caught up with her.

"So did we," Oleg said, as he was comforted by the thought that he would be returning home with Olga.

…

"So you told her to keep her men in the trenches, while the artillery put up a smoke screen, which you used to go around the fort and hit Octavio? Pretty sneaky, Gramps," Marie said, as Cuttlefish finished his story.

"Aye, I wanted to give her what she really wanted, and ending the war right then and there was the best way to do it. And the damage we did to the fort insured that her unit couldn't be accused of abandoning their post. Still, my only regret is that I wasn't able to keep in touch with Kiko. I only heard what happened from her lieutenant when the Octarians signed the non aggression pact."

"Orika Maroon," Callie said. "I wonder if-" At that moment, several loud knocks were heard from the front door. Callie quickly ran over, and opened it. "Otome! You made it!" Callie squealed, and pulled the Octoling inside and into a hug.

"Ow! Callie! I-I mean I'm happy to see you too, but a little restraint please!" Otome responded, and pulled her off.

"Hey! We're here too!" Levin yelled, as he entered the shack with Kirk, Shara, and Neptune.

"Think fast!" Neptune said, and hurled a snowball at Otome's face. As it plopped against her cheek, Otome turned and gave Neptune a look that could kill.

"Neptune, could you not do that on Squidmas!" Kirk protested, and Neptune stuck her tongue out at both of them.

"You're just in time!" Callie said, as she returned to the kitchen. "Dinner is ready!" The now large group sat down, and enjoyed their Squidmas eve dinner. They spend the next few hours chatting among themselves, until the clock signaled that it was past midnight.

"Merry Squidmas!" They all said to each other.

"That means it's present time!" Callie said, and Marie smirked a bit at her cousin's behavior. Callie took out gifts from under the tree, and started passing them out to the surprised squids, Octoling, and human. Though, the highlight was when Levin surprised Shara with a gift, which made her go red in the face, and lose her composure.

"It's a good thing I came prepared," Drake said, and everybody turned their attention to him. "While your Squidmas has different origins than our Christmas, the spirit is the same. I got something for you all." Drake reached into his side pack, and pulled out a number of new data pads. "You can play all the human games you want with these," he said, and passed them out.

"Thank you, Drake!" Callie said, and pulled him into a hug.

"Thanks, Drake. I honestly wasn't expecting this," Marie said, who gave him a genuine smile.

"Th-thank you, Drake. Thank you, Callie," Otome said, who was holding her gifts to her chest. "I-I don't have anything to give you back, though."

"It's enough that you are here with us!" Callie said, and Drake nodded. Otome went red. "Oh, by the way, did you have someone in your family named Orika?"

"Huh? How do you know my grandmother's name?" Otome asked.

"We just heard Gramps tell an interesting story about how he met her in the war," Marie responded.

"A story about the war? I would like to hear this too," Shara cut in.

"Yes, do tell you why you know one of my ancestors," Otome told Cuttlefish.

"Well, gather around, lands and lasses, and I'll tell the story again," said Cuttlefish, as they moved in.

"This is the best Squidmas ever!" Said a happy Callie, as she was with all the people she liked the most.

"Yes, it really is," Marie added. "Mary Squidmas, Cal."

 **A/N: Don't ask me how I did this in such short time. This was partially inspired by the Christmas truce of 1914. Hope you all enjoyed, and be sure to give The Legacy of Humanity a read if you haven't already.**


	3. Crossovers

Crossovers - [Non-Canon]

 **Author's notes: This is a crossover with XT3100's story, Black Ice Vortex book 1, done in response to the one he did with LoH. I recommend being familiar with both his story and mine before reading. It is not canon with LoH or Black Ice Vortex. I recommend reading his story first. The OCs in this story, Scarlet and Black Ice, Belong to XT3100. The other OCs belong to me. Splatoon and its canon chars belong to Nintendo. Warning: contains sexual themes, but nothing M/R rated.**

The world had shifted into a lifeless void that can only be described as a vortex. An empty vortex where time and space had become a blend. A blend that linked many different time-lines of the world. In the center of the vortex, were two figures. "What the hell is the point of all this?" The first figure asked. She was tall, well proportioned, and her red hair glowed in contrast to the void. Red hair that was a blend of human hair, and Oceanic tentacles. "What do all these different time-lines have to do with my home? I'm getting tired of waiting, Black Ice."

"Temper, Scarlet," the other figure responded. The other figure, Black Ice, was clearly not human. Nor was it one of an Inkling that Scarlet had seen in the other worlds. While humanoid in nature, her form was difficult to describe, and Scarlet had given up on trying to figure the creature out. But that didn't matter, as Scarlet was losing her patience to the creature's interference. Scarlet raised a hand, intending to whack Black Ice on the top of the head, but she dodged to the side with perfect timing. "That isn't going to work every time, you know."

"THEN WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?!" Scarlet snarled.

"You know that first timeline you saw?" Ice responded, and Scarlet nodded with irritation. "Well, in that one, another group of humans had survived the flood and lived in harmony with Inklings in the country side, while your people continued to thrive underwater. This time, let's take a look at a world where a tiny group of humans barely managed to survive by putting themselves in stasis. Kinda like what you and your husband are doing."

How? HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT!?" Scarlet said with a look of shock.

"Did the mighty Scarlet forget who you were talk- OUCH! OW!" Ice yelped, as Scarlet grabbed the side of her face and pinched hard.

"Just get to the point already, you damned space brat!"

"Fine! Fine!" Ice said. The void shifted around her, and a new scene took form. The first time this happened, she had been in a deep forest area. This time, Scarlet was taken to what looked like a fishing wharf, just outside a large city. On one of the docks, a small submarine was parked. On the other side of the wharf, near where the docks met with dry land, Scarlet could make out three figures. "Recognize those two?" Ice asked.

"They... were from the first world... Callie and Marie, I believe they were called. Inklings." Scarlet responded. In the first world, the two had come in contact with a young human boy, who had lead them to the secluded village that the humans had been living in. This time, the boy was nowhere to be found, but a third figure, an Octoling, was chatting with them. This was strange to Scarlet, as the last time she saw one of these creatures, they attacked the Inklings on sight.

"Good, good. You remembered," Ice responded. Neither of them bothered to lower their voices, as they were invisible ghosts to the world's inhabitants. "I've got them all memorized. I do so enjoy watching humans."

"That's quite the hobby you got there. I should have figured you would be the peeping tom type," Scarlet said with an eye roll.

"Hehe. Well, if you are tired of watching, how about a little... hands on experience?" The creatures lips went up into a sharp smirk. She gave Scarlet a devilish wink, and then her body vanished with a flash of light.

"Ice! Where the hell did you go?" Scarlet said, as she looked around for the other figure.

"Dam Shu neni magima. Sev nu gami," Scarlet heard Callie say.

"What?" Scarlet said to herself with a confused tone. She turned to the chatting group of three. "I could understand them in the first world. Why can't I now? Is it because Ice is gone?"

"Netsuix," Marie responded. "Im nevi huma na-" Marie stopped talking, and suddenly locked eyes with Scarlet.

'Don't panic. She can't see you,' Scarlet thought. Unfortunately, while they had been invisible and detached from the other time lines, this was no longer the case.

"Wami isha tanu!" Marie yelled, and pointed right at Scarlet. She could clearly see her. Callie and the Octoling whipped around, and looked at Scarlet with shock.

"AHHHH! N-N-Nanu am spemni!" Callie said. The Octoling raised her weapon, and made a gesture at the two to stay put.

"Ina habich thuni!" She yelled. Then she started charging at Scarlet with surprising speed. "Shu! Hami!" The charging figure shouted. Scarlet didn't wait to find out what that meant, and started running away from her pursuer. "HAMI!"

"Why are the after me? Are they not friendly with humans in this timeline? Dammit, Ice! What the hell did you do?" While Scarlet was putting distance between herself and the Octoling, a triangular shaped object was thrown in front of her. Instinctively thinking it was some sort of grenade, she dodge to the right, just as the splat bomb burst. This allowed the Octoling to catch up, and Scarlet saw her raise the strange weapon. Before she could regain her speed, Scarlet felt two balls of liquid hit her shoulder. While it didn't cause any physical damage, she could feel her arms go numb.

"Imi savu hami!" Putting all of her strength into her strides, Scarlet managed to pull away from the range of the Octoling's weapon. She changed course into a large patch of trees. Taking cover behind the trunk of a larger tree, she saw that she had finally managed to elude the pursuer. Scarlet placed a hand over her well curved chest, as she tried to catch her breath, but she didn't have long because she soon heard another set of footsteps running towards her.

"Shit! What now?!" Scarlet cursed. Her first thought was the Octoling, but this set sounded much heavier and faster than the red female. Scarlet turned to run.

"YOU! STOP WHERE YOU ARE!" Scarlet stopped in her tracks for two reasons. The first was that she understood the words spoken. The second, was due to a very distinct sound that followed them. Scarlet turned to the voice that shouted at her, and she found herself staring down the barrel of a very old assault rifle. Or rather, it was old from her perspective.

'Why do the surface humans have such old weapons?' She thought to herself. Scarlet quickly raised her hands, since the weapon was still deadly, old or not. The figure that had stopped her appeared to a human male in his early 20's, unlike the boy in the first world who was just a teenager. He was wearing what looked like a heavy police uniform, complete with a Kevlar helmet and goggles. She couldn't make out much detail, but his hair was brown, and his eyes looked blue.

"You!" Scarlet said. "You're human, so why are you stopping me? We have to get out of here before they find us!"

"Why would I want to do that? Besides, we will be the ones asking questions," The man responded. After hearing more approaching footsteps, Scarlet glanced to the man's right, and saw the Octoling rushing towards them, along with Callie and Marie. Otome stopped on the man's left side, and the two Inklings were on his right, all with their eyes pointed at Scarlet. It appeared that the man knew them, and Scarlet's original assumption was wrong.

"Vwe ani.. wanu ani shu?" Marie said to her. Scarlet just blinked in response. 'Frigging, Ice! You could have at least kept it so I could understand them,' she thought.

"You going to answer her, or what?" The man asked in a suspicious tone.

"And just how the hell am I supposed to answer when I don't know what she's saying?" Scarlet snapped, and she folded her arms across her chest.

"You're seriously going to tell me that you don't understand your own kind?" He responded, still holding the rifle at the ready.

"Well, I don't! Do I look like, what was it? An Inkling?" The man took a closer look at her.

"You sure as hell aren't from Eden. But fine. I'll play along. She asked who or what are you." Scarlet started to answer, but the man held up his hand. "Wait, hold on." He started going through one of his equipment bags, until he pulled out what looked like a small head set. "Good thing I have a spare. Put this on your ear, like mine is." Scarlet looked to the head piece that he was wearing. She took the device he offered her, and slipped it on her ear. "Now set the microphone like mine is."

"Oha shu gumi ani heni- translator. Good thinking, Drake!" Scarlet heard Callie say, and was startled at the sudden change in her speech.

'The hell? How do they have this kind of technology if they are still using primitive weapons?' She thought. "My name is Scarlet. I'm... human."

"You're going to have to do better than that. I know everyone from Eden, and I've never seen you before. Besides, no human has hair like that," the one Callie called Drake said. All 4 of them were looking at her red mini tentacle hair.

"Maybe she's like Annie?" Callie suggested.

"That can't be. Even Annie's tentacles aren't that small. Besides, no eye marks," Marie said, who was clearly confused and suspicious.

"That's another thing. Your eyes. They are too large for a human. Actually, they are more like an Oceanic's," Drake added.

'This guy is nothing like the boy from the first world. He might be dangerous,' Scarlet thought. She figured it would be best to come clean, and hope they believed her.

"I... am not all human. I was originally an Octopus, but in order to save my life, my mother spliced my genes and mixed it with that of a human. I guess you could say I'm a hybrid? Though, this form is a result of the experiment, but I AM A HUMAN, DAMMIT!"

"Really? Okay, even IF we bought that, this would require technology that humans, Inklings, nor Octarians have. Where did this happen?"

"The humans I live with, have been underwater for... I don't know how long, but our technology has progressed beyond what I've seen here."

"Underwater! Then does that mean she's...?" Callie started to say.

"Does the name Technodyne ring a bell?" Drake asked.

"Never heard of it. Our home has no name."

"So she isn't from the complex we just came from. Great.." The Octoling muttered.

"Okay, you need to tell me where this underwater home of your is," Drake started to say. "If there are other humans, then we-" Suddenly, Drake was cut off, and everyone seemed to freeze in place. Then, another voice could be heard from behind.

"That's enough of that crap." Recognizing the voice, Scarlet sighed, and turned around.

"And just where the HELL have you been?" She asked in a irritated tone.

"Watching you screw up. Honestly, what were you thinking? I set this up this way so the interference will be minimal and repairable, but telling them outright like that will contaminate the time-lines! You can only have so many singularities, you know."

"NO, I DON'T KNOW!" Scarlet roared back. "Maybe next time, you should give me heads up instead of throwing me to the damn wolves?"

"Now where's the fun in that?" Ice sneered for a brief moment, then her expression became irritated again. "I thought you would be smarter than this, though. Considering all you and your 'man' did. Welp, let's try this again." Ice turned and disappeared again, but not before Scarlet could deliver a quick kick to her ass.

"Hey! Are you okay there?" Callie said. Scarlet turned back around, and saw the world natives were moving like normal again.

"Just a little anemia," Scarlet responded, pressing her hand to her head.

"Then if you are back with us, how about answering the question? Who and what are you?" Drake said with out skipping a beat.

'Huh? Did time reverse by a few minutes? Then I'd better play dumb,' Scarlet thought, as she quickly came up with a lie. "My name is Scarlet, and... I don't know what you mean. I don't remember... anything..."

"Ah the amnesia alibi," Drake continued. He clearly was not convinced of Scarlet's act. "I suppose you are going to tell me you don't know about your arm either."

"W-what?" Scarlet looked down at her cybernetic forearm. The Nanotech fusion cell glowed at her. This arm would probably end up being her trump card, if worse came to worse, but she decided to heed Ice's warning, and continued to play dumb. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! Why is this on my arm?"

"Maybe we should stop," Callie said with a concerned expression. "She's really freaking out. Why don't we take her back to Inkopolis? She might remember something."

"Come on, Callie. She's clearly faking it," the Octoling chimed in.

"B-but, we can't just leave her here."

"I guess we can take her to the studio and see what happens," Marie said with a defeated look. "We need to take the prisoners that The Chaos were holding to the hospital anyway. We'll catch a ride with the ambulances. They should be here any minute."

"Well, if we are doing this, then you'd better take this." Drake finally lowered the rifle, and went through one of his equipment pouches. He pulled out the squid nordic that Marie had given him, then handed it to Scarlet. "Use this to cover that hair. The Inklings don't need another freak out."

20 minutes later, Scarlet was being "escorted" up to the second floor of the studio. Despite having her tentacle hair covered, she was getting a lot of strange looks from the staff. Especially from the guys. "Stop perving out, Fran!" Marie said, as they pulled Scarlet into the squid sisters private dressing room. "I guess just sit down where ever you like."

"Don't mind if I do." Scarlet took a seat at the desk, while Marie sat on the bed. The Octoling leaned against the door. Probably to prevent an escape attempt. Drake sat down on a large bean bag chair, and Callie plopped down right next to him, practically on his lap. Scarlet took note of this.

"So, remember anything yet?" Marie asked.

"Nothing. Where even is this place?" Scarlet responded.

"WHHAAAAT? You don't know Inkopolis?" Callie said with a look of blatant shock.

"Ink..opolis? Really? I suppose the Octopus home is called Octopolis?" Scarlet said, and looked at the Octoling.

"That's OCTOBURG! Thank you very much!" The Octoling shot back. "And I have a name, you know."

"Okay, then wait should I... wait..." Scarlet paused.

"Well, I guess we should introduce ourselves, if we are going to be keeping her here," Drake stood up after a long sigh. "I'm Drake Von Kaufmann. The human, other wise known as the elder-race."

"I'm Callie! And that's my cousin, Marie. We're the squid sisters!" The two stood up and did their signature pose.

"PFFF! What the hell is that supposed to be?" Scarlet said with a snicker.

"Hey! That's our signature move! Does she really not know?" Callie said, and looked like she was starting to believe the amnesia story.

"I guess I'm next." The Octoling stood up straight. "I'm-"

"O...to...me.." Scarlet muttered.

"What... what the hell? How do you know my name?" The Octoling was quiet shocked, and stared at her. She was now even more suspicious of her than Drake was.

"I... don't know.. just.. I feel like I met you before," Scarlet said, and this time she was telling the truth.

"SHARKSHIT! I would have remembered those... thunder tits!" Otome roared, and everyone gave her a 'what the hell' look.

"Seriously? THAT'S What got your attention? I mean, you aren't wrong, but..." Marie started, then trailed off as her attention was now on Scarlet's chest.

"She has a point. I don't think even any of the Eden women are that well endowed," Drake said, and looked away.

'Well, this is quite a turn of events. Time to put the assets to use,' Scarlet thought, and stood up.

"Like what you see?" She bent over in a rather suggestive manner.

"HELL NO!" Otome screamed, and her face went red. "Why would anyone like that? That's gotta get in the way of... everything!"

"Are you sure about that? I mean, they do have their uses. Which reminds me-" Scarlet moved to Drake's other side. She grabbed hold of his arm in a manner that was dangerously close to her chest. "You don't think I'm still making this up, do you?" 'this has to work. Only one person is immune-'

"Lady, that's not going to work," Drake said, as he skillfully retrieved his arm.

"Huh?" Scarlet looked at him in disbelief. 'What is with this guy? Is he related to Hydro?'

"First, I've had enough odd female friends to make me immune to that. Second, I'm not a player, nor a teenaged boy in puberty. Third-"

"There's more?"

"Third, I like all shapes and sizes. So flashing that isn't going to give you an advantage."

"DRAKE! WHAT THE HELL?!" Otome roared again. Scarlet took note that her face was completely red. Callie, still sitting next to Drake, looked like her mind was trying desperately to process this information, and if this had been a cartoon, smoke would have been steaming out of her ears. Marie, on the other hand, was literally rolling on the floor laughing.

"D- did... he... really just... say- that?" Marie barely got out between the fits of laughter.

"What? I'm just saying that- oh, forget it," Drake waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. "How did we even get on that subject, anyway?"

"W-why.. don't we... just watch- TV... before.. I die, here," Marie said, as she stood back up. Still catching her breath, Marie limped over to the TV, and switched it on. Since the translator didn't work over electronics, she switched it over the turf war channel. Two teams had just started going at it, and Scarlet's attention was immediately captured.

'This looks a lot like paintball. I bet Felix would love this,' Scarlet thought, as the Inklings moved towards the center of Moray Towers. As they jumped down to the center, one of the Inklings was splatted by a shot from a E-liter that was camping on the upper story. "Wait... WHAT THE... FUCK?! ARE YOU KILLING EACH OTHER FOR FUN?!" She watched in horror, as the girl burst into a puddle of blue ink.

"That's what we thought at first too," Drake said, and he glanced over to Otome. "She was absolutely livid with anger."

"Oh, come on! I wasn't that mad... was I?" Otome looked down with embarrassment.

"Anyway," Drake continued. "Marie, why don't you give her the lecture?"

"Me? I think it's someone else turn."

"Aw, but you look so cool when you get into turf instructor mode!" Callie said, and Marie sighed with her usual exasperated look.

"Fiiiiiinnnne. But, next time, someone else is seriously doing it." Marie rewound the footage, and went over the fine points of turf war. Scarlet was impressed by the technology behind the Splat Prevention And Warping Node.

"That's some pretty damn impressive tech, you got there. But I have to ask, is it safe? I mean, it looks like you guys are exploding," Scarlet asked.

"We haven't lost one player since the system was invented. So yeah, I think it's safe," Marie responded.

"As long as it doesn't go down, that is," Otome cut in.

"Hey! That only happened once, and nobody was seriously hurt!" Callie responded. "Besides, that was Octavio's fault!"

"You guys really like your games, don't you?" Scarlet added, then went lost in her own thoughts. 'I think I prefer paintball. I miss the days when Hydro and I would play. He hasn't taken a hit to the nads in quite a while, either.'

"Heck yeah! Turf wars are where it's at!" Callie explained, which jumped Scarlet out of her thoughts.

"I think I'm going to get some fresh air. I'm getting a headache." Drake got up, and turned to leave. "Why don't you show her the plaza?"

"Wait, what? YOU'RE being considerate?" Scarlet asked.

"I'm still not convinced about the memory loss things, but if you reacted like that to turf wars... I guess I can't write it off. Just don't do anything to betray my friend's trust." With that, he left the room.

"Sorry, about him," Callie said as she stood up. "He's usually a good guy, but he... cares about me, Marie, and Otome."

"Sounds like a player to me," Scarlet said in jest.

"What's.. a player? You mean like a turf war player?" The joke was clearly lost on Callie.

"No, Callie. You do NOT need to know that," Marie said under her face palm.

"Relax, I'm kidding. I think it's kinda cute, actually. So, who's showing me around?"

"Well, we have to catch up on our broadcasts... so..." Marie looked over at Otome.

"YEAH, I GET IT! FINE! This way, watermelon chest." Otome scoffed.

"Jealous much?" Scarlet responded.

"HELL NO! I DO NOT NEED THAT SHIT GETTING IN MY WAY!" Otome roared, and Marie went into another laughing fit as they left the room.

"You like him, don't you?" Scarlet said, as they left the studio. "The human, I mean."

"We're partners, and close friends. But even if that were true, that's my business," Otome coldly responded.

"Really? Because, you know. I can help you with that."

"W-what are you getting at?"

"I can give you your own pair of these." Scarlet stuck her large chest at out at Otome, and her face went red with both anger and embarrassment.

"WHAT GOOD WOULD THAT DO! I'M A PROUD OCTARIAN SOLDIER!" Her yelling attracted many stares from most of the plaza goers.

"Because men like them. I'll bet you anything that Drake was just acting cool."

"D-don't act like you know him!"

"Well, are you sure YOU know him? He was pretty close with Callie, and I think she likes him too."

"That's- I mean, she's our friend! Though, I could have sworn I've had this conversation before."

"You too, huh? Then you should know-"

"I- WAIT! THE ANSWER IS NO! Go stick those things on Marie or something! I'm going back to the apartment, so show yourself around!" Otome stormed off, and Scarlet was left alone in the plaza, getting many stares.

"Guess it's time to do some exploring," she said to no one in particular.

"What? And let you cause even more trouble?" A familiar voice said. Scarlet sighed, and noticed that time had frozen up again. She turned around, and saw the familiar figure of Black Ice.

"Just when it was getting interesting. What now, Ice?"

"Yeah, I can tell what your definition of 'fun' is. I take my eyes off you for just a little bit, and look what happens. Anyway, do you get it now?"

"Get what? If I was supposed to do something, you should have just said so!"

"Why humans are so interesting of course." Ice gave Scarlet a curious look.

"Unless your were trying to show me how they grew immune to certain stimulus, I don't follow you."

"Ugh, you're hopeless," Ice said, and gave Scarlet a look that made her feel like she was being treated like an idiot. "You don't find it interesting that he adapted so well to this situation? Even a Hybrid like yourself would have been in a lot of trouble if you were stuck here permanently. Just look over there." Ice pointed over to a nearby bench, and she could see Drake chatting with a small girl that had a lot of small tentacles and a clown fish floating around her.

"Isn't that just because he grew up around all of this?"

"Actually, he's only been awake for a little over a week. But hey, I'll show you another example." The scene changed, and scarlet saw that they were in the middle of a large battle. "Don't worry, they can't see you, so just watch." Doing as she was told she watched the two groups of Oceanics go at it. Though, the only way she could tell one side from the other, was that one had several humans with them.

"Ice, what's going on?" Scarlet asked, as she took in the chaos that was unfolding. They appeared to be fighting for control of a large fortress like structure. The side that the humans were fighting on were getting pushed back by a large Octopus like creature that was riding a floating robot. It was firing a golden cannon like weapon that shot out large tornadoes of ink. Then, Scarlet heard the distinct sound of a gunshot.

"OH SHIT! Tell me I didn't!" She turned, and saw Drake bent over the figure of Otome. The two appeared to have been fighting until the shot had been fired. A pair of broken goggles fell from Otome's face, and she suddenly embraced him. Then time stopped again.

"Interesting, isn't it?" Ice said. "Those humans are fighting for a species they know little about, and that man forged a close bond with members of 2 separate races. Honestly, you can't tell me that you don't find that fascinating."

"I don't care about your fetishes! If you've seen this stuff play out already, then tell me what happens to my home!" Scarlet snapped.

"No need to rush. We got plenty of time. Since you still don't seem to get it, let's try another world. I'll make you understand why I love watching humans and Oceanics alike." The world distorted, and the two were sent back to the void.

 **A/N: This is why I usually shy away from crossovers of any kind.**


	4. Christmas to Squidmas

Christmas to Squidmas (Canon)

 **Authors notes: This is based off the fall of humanity prequel. I recommend reading it beforehand.**

Earth December 24th 2015 A.D.

It was mid morning at the Von Kaufmann house. Thanks to a flash blizzard, the house and the grounds around it were covered in a fresh blanket of snow. In the house's driveway, the figures of Drake Von Kaufmann, Hannah Ramsey and Brandon Finn could be seen shoveling the snow that had piled up from the previous night's blizzard.

"You know, Drake, we wouldn't have to be doing this if you had done your Christmas shopping... you know... not on Christmas eve," Hannah grumbled while they worked to clear the driveway.

"Yeah.. I know, Hannah. You don't have to keep reminding me." He tossed a pile of snow in her direction with his shovel. Annoyed, she scooped up a larger pile, and hurled it back at him.

"We're not going to get anything done if you keep that up," Brandon said with a sigh. "Besides, do the girls even know what Christmas is?" He asked in reference to Callie, Marie, Shara and Kelly. Three Inklings and an Octoling that had come to the humans several months before hand.

"How should I know? But that's why I want to give them a Christmas to remember... One that I hope they will carry with them.. once the plan takes effect.." He looked down. The plan he was referring to was an attempt to change the future by getting the humans to clean up the environment, thereby avoiding the impending melt down. With the future changed, they expected the girls would not come to the past, and would return to their own time.

"Right... I hope we can give them a great memory too.." Brandon sighed. "But I don't see why they couldn't help us with the snow."

"Because then they would get suspicious, and that would ruin the surprise, dummy! There was a reason we planned to go this early while they're still asleep." Hannah wiped a bit of snow from her face, as they finished clearing the driveway. "Think we can get the car out now?"

"I think so. Give me a minute." Drake put the shovel down, and went inside the garage.

"I'm glad we got the outdoor lights done last night." Hannah commented while looking at the rows of Christmas lights that lined the side of the house.

"You and me both." Brandon placed his shovel next to the one Drake had left. "But we don't even have a tree yet."

"Yeah... we'll have to set up the fake one his father bought a few years ago when we get back . I mean, I want to show them Christmas too, but we really should have decided to do this earlier," she continued to complain. A moment later, Drake slowly backed the car out of the garage.

"Right, I'm out," he called out to them. "Let's get going." The three piled in and headed off to the store.

"So how do we do this?" Hannah asked when they entered the shopping center.

"I think we should split up and each buy a gift for them. Though that means one of us will have to take two of the girls. I'll handle that since it was my idea." Drake said while looking around.

"Well, it's obvious you are going to take Callie." She grinned at him and his face went a little red. "But I think you should be in charge of Marie's gift as well. I think it would mean the most to her if it came from you, since you've been taking care of her and her cousin for so long." Drake nodded in response.

"I'll take Kelly," Brandon was quick to say.

"Huh? I'm fine taking the orange cutie, but why?" Hannah gave him a suspicious look.

"N-no reason." he said. Hannah gave him a grin, but before she could tease him, he headed to the other side of the store.

"Suspicious. Very suspicious indeed. Well, let's meet back up here when we're done." Hannah went her own way, and Drake started looking for gifts that would suit the squid sisters. After picking up a portable MP3 player for Marie, and a dancing game and pad for Callie, he started to head back to the entrance. However, he stopped at the jewelry department. Something had caught his eye. He was looking at a row of trinkets that were all in the shape of video game characters.

"Can I help you, sir?" The attendant asked, and Drake looked up.

"Oh, uh.. one second." He looked back down at a particular necklace that caught his eye. However, he winced a little when he saw the price tag. 'She doesn't have much time left with us... this is going to hurt... but..' After debating internally for several minutes, he pointed to the necklace.

"Interesting choice, sir." She bagged up the item, and he charged it to his card. He headed to the front of the store to meet the others.

"There you are. Did you-" Hannah looked at his extra bag and grinned. "Did someone get a little something extra for a certain someone?"

"Real cute, Hannah... anyway, what did you two get for them?"

"I got Shara a pair of cute mittens and a hair clip."

"I.. got Kelly some new boots, a scarf, and some chocolates."

"That sounds like something you'd give to a girl you were interested in, than a house guest." Hannah's smirk grew even wider.

"Be quiet, Hanna. How Drake takes that on a daily basis is beyond me." The three left the store and headed home. By the time they got back, the Inklings were just starting to wake up, and Kelly was pacing around. She quickly noticed them, and Drake hid the bags behind his back.

"There you are! What's the idea disappearing with out saying anything?" The Octoling immediately asked.

"Just.. uh.. buying a few.. guy things." Hannah said, and took the bags from Drake. "Honestly.. dragging a girl with you to buy your games? You see how nice I am? I'm even going to put these in you're room for you." She started to head up the stairs, while Kelly watched her suspiciously.

"What's in the bag.. Hannah...?" Marie asked casually, as she passed her on the stairs with a yawn.

"N-nothing, Marie! Just some junk the boys couldn't wait to buy for themselves!" She quickly went into Drake's room to hide the gifts. After putting them in his closet, she came down to see them sitting around the table, helping themselves to some cereal. Drake passed her the box when she came in. "By the way, we should probably start setting up the Christmas tree right after breakfast," she said and started eating.

"Christmas... tree? What's that?" Callie asked and tilted her head a little.

"See.. told you they wouldn't know." Brandon said between bites.

"Well... it's a holiday that... uh.. is usually a time for families to get together," Drake started with an awkward tone. "It's also a season of being festive and meant to invoke a spirit of giving and kindness. We usually decorate the house to add to that."

"Smooth, Drake. Real smooth," Hannah said sarcastically. "There's also a history and religious significance behind the holiday, though not everyone chooses to celebrate it for those reasons. My family does, and we usually spend some time doing religious studies along with the usual Christmas traditions."

"I... think I get it... sorta," Shara said with a mildly confused look.

"Well all the Christmas movies and specials will be on today. Maybe we should binge watch them to give the girls a better idea," Brandon suggested.

"But.. what's this about a tree?"

"Oh you'll see, cutie." Hannah responded. "But we should probably start setting that up if we want to have a real Christmas." Her and the boys stood up and started heading to the garage, where the fake tree was stored.

"You guys need help?" Marie offered.

"That's sweet of you, Marie. But we'll handle this. Why don't you four go watch some Christmas shows while we set it up," Hannah responded. Marie nodded, and went to the living room while they hauled the tree out. While the humans were setting up the tree, the girls were watching an old cartoon on T.V.

"Why's the green guy trying to steal their tree and presents? That's so mean!" Callie said with a sour expression.

"It's because he's alone and doesn't understand the spirit of Christmas. But just keep watching," Hannah responded. After setting the tree's base, they started to decorate the tree with lights and the few ornaments that Manfred Von Kaufmann had stowed away after Drake's mother left.

"Wow... looks pretty... I've never seen anything like this," Kelly said while glancing at the tree when they finished.

"I looks like a squidmas tree to me. You've never seen one?" Marie asked and Kelly shook her head.

"Squid...mas?" Drake gave them a confused and surprised look.

"Oh yeah! This is a lot like squidmas!" Callie exclaimed.

"But what is it?" He asked.

"It's pretty similar to what I've seen of your Christmas so far, but the origins come from the great turf war," Marie explained.

"Yup! We have trees and everything too!" Callie chimed in. The Humans sat down in front of the T.V. A short time later, the cartoon came to an end. "I think it's sweet how he changed his heart and gave everything back," she commented.

"Yeah. That's an old one, but it's a popular story," Drake agreed.

"I wonder if we could change Octavio's heart too," Callie wondered.

"Yeah, right. I doubt he even has a heart." Marie rolled her eyes.

"I'd rather not try anyway... not after what he did to us.." Shara let out a low growl.

"Uh.. why don't we try a different movie." Drake changed the channel to another cartoon movie being played.

"Anyone feel like hot chocolate? Can't go with out that on Christmas," Hannah asked and got up. All four of the Oceanic girls raised their hands.

"Great idea, Hannah. I'll help." Drake got up, and started to head to the kitchen, but then stopped. "You want whipped cream or marshmallows in yours?" Drake asked Callie.

"Marshmallows? Yes please!" Callie quickly answered.

"You answered that way too quick, even if you did head that splatfest team," Marie said with her signature smirk. "Anyway, whipped cream for me." Drake nodded and helped Hannah make the hot chocolate. A few minutes later, they came out carrying several mugs.

"Thank you." Callie smiled at him when he handed her the mug. She sipped the hot chocolate, and let out a satisfied sigh. "So good... I love hot chocolate and marshmallows on a cold day."

"I don't know, Cal. I still say whipped cream is better," Marie said as she sipped hers.

"What? But we all know Marshmallows are the best!" Callie insisted.

"I don't know.. I gotta agree with Marie on this one." Drake said, and showed her his mug that was loaded with cream. She gave him a surprised look. "And I'm not the only one." The others raised their mugs, and they all had whipped cream, say for one.

"I don't know... these Marsh... things.. are kinda.. tasty." Kelly said in between her rapid sips.

"See! Someone besides me has good taste!"

"Give it up, Cal"

"Leave it to the Octarian to not know good taste when it's right under her nose," Shara commented.

"Screw you, orange girl!"

"Now now. No fighting on Christmas. Let's watch more holiday movies." Hannah said. They turned their attention to the T.V. Several hours passed as they watched old Christmas movies that the Oceanics found most interesting. At one point, they came to a scene about a group of kids having a snow ball fight.

"Oh! Snowball fights! Those are great fun when turf wars are closed during heavy snow!" Callie commented.

"Oh, you guys play that game too?" Drake asked.

"Yeah. And my super sneak attack always nails her," Marie grinned wide, to which Callie puffed her cheeks out.

"Only because you chargers always are afraid to get close," she snapped back.

"Says the roller that hides in ink for cheap sneak attacks," Marie responded.

"Hey! I don't do that!... Mostly!"

"Heh... I sense a snow battle in the future." Hannah grinned as she watched them bicker.

"Yeah... and I get the feeling I will be the first one dragged in." Drake rolled his eyes.

"Spoilsport!" The group went back to watching the movies. Apart from taking a few breaks to play board games, much to Kelly's delight, and have a steak dinner, they spent much of their time binge watching Christmas movies. The most well received was a movie about a boy who went great lengths to obtain a BB gun for Christmas, despite being told about shooting his eye out. It wasn't until the clock struck midnight, that the movie marathon ended.

"Marry Christmas," the humans all chimed at the same time.

"Oh! Is it that time already? Mary squidmas... er... uh.."

"Smooth move, Callie. Always messing up your lines... but that's part of what makes you so adorable," Marie said with out her usual sarcasm.

"She really is," Hannah agreed. "You're a very lucky guy, Drake." He went red in the face. After laughing at him, Hannah looked towards the window. She could see the snow falling outside, and was lit up from the flickering lights outside the house. "Look... we even got a white Christmas"

"Wow... it's just as pretty as the squidmas snow fall in Inkopolis," Marie Commented.

"I... I've never seen..." Kelly walked over to the window and stared at the snow fall. The flakes sparkled at her from the reflection from the lights the lined the fence and and roof. "I've.. never seen such a beautiful sight."

"You've never seen snow before?" Brandon asked her and walked up to her.

"No... because we lived underground.. we rarely get to see things on the surface world... things like this." She continued to stare at the snow.

"Ah right... But I'm glad you got to see this with us."

"Thank you.." She glanced at him. "I just wished Otome could have seen this."

"That's.. the girl you told us about right...?"

"Yes.." She sighed. "If this plan to change the future really works... then.. I hope it's a future that she will get to see... and live in."

"I do to, Kelly... I hope you both do," Brandon put his hand on the Octoling elite's shoulder, and she smiled a little at him. Hannah was grinning from the far side of the room.

"As much as I would like to watch this develop, I think its gift time," Hannah said.

"Oh! Just like squidmas- wait... you.. got us gifts?" Callie looked at them in surprise. Hannah nodded her head, and Drake came down the stairs a moment later. He was carrying the gifts they had bought early in the morning. They had been wrapped by the humans during a movie intermission, and were now covered by bright and festive colors. "B-but.. we... don't have.. anything to give you back."

"Yeah... as much as Callie loves getting gifts... we always try to make sure that it isn't one sided." Marie said, and looked ashamed. "You should have told us... we could have gotten something for you as well."

"With what money and transportation? Besides, that would have spoiled the surprise," Drake said. Brandon brought the gift he bought over to Kelly, and Drake and Hannah started passing out gifts to the Inklings.

"These mittens are nice and warm... thank you Hannah," Shara said as Hannah clipped the hair ornament to her tentacles.

"You're welcome. I'm sure the blue boy you mentioned would find your new look cute." Hannah grinned at her.

"Y-you're just as much of a dummy as he is... but thanks."

"What... is this..? Wait.. is this a music player?" Marie asked when she unwrapped the MP3 player.

"Yeah. You can hook it up to my computer and put any music you want on it. I thought you'd like to be able to listen to music with out having to be tethered to my PC or the laptop."

"Oh... that was really thoughtful of you. I do love listening to human music. Thank you Drake." Marie gave him a wide smile.

"Y-yeah. Don't mention it."

"So.. what's this?" Callie asked, holding up the box that contained the dancing mat and video game.

"It's a dancing game Callie. You follow the notes on the screen, and press the buttons on the pad by moving your body with the rhythm. I'll hook it up to my console for you later." Drake responded.

"Wait.. that sounds like Squidbeets! I love that game!" Callie grinned at him.

"So you have rhythm games too?" The surprised human asked.

"Yep! I used to play it in the arcade. Thank you, Drake! I've been getting out of practice, and this will be perfect! You'll play with me, won't you?"

"Well.. I normally never touch those kinda games.. but for you, I'll be happy to." He smiled back at her.

"Then what are we waiting for!" She stood up.

"It's... a bit late for that." he said, and glanced at the clock.

"O-oh, right." Callie looked down a little.

"But... that's not all I got you." Drake said, and Callie gave him a questioning look. "Close your eyes." Doing as she was told, Drake reached into his pocket and pulled out the jeweled squid necklace. He then put it around her neck. "Okay, you can open them now." She opened her eyes and looked down.

"Oh... this.. this is.." Her eyes went wide when she saw the jeweled squid.

"I remembered that you liked the squids at the aquarium so... I thought you might.. like it. Though... that one is called a Blooper.. and it's from a video ga-" Drake didn't have time to finish, as Callie jumped into his arms.

"Drake... it's beautiful." She smiled wide. "This.. may be the best squidma- Christmas gift anyone ever gave me... Thank you." She leaned up towards his face, and kissed him. Drake accepted and responded to the kiss, and they held each other like that for several moments.

"You're welcome, Callie." He looked at her lovingly, but a clicking sound behind them brought them back to reality.

"That's going in the collection." Hannah grinned at them while aiming her phone camera at the pair.

"And you aren't the only one wanting a copy of that." Marie was also grinning at them.

"H-hey! Come on! You delete that!" Callie demanded.

"Not happening, Cal. But you might not be the only one getting an embarrassing photo taken." Marie nodded to the other side of the room. Kelly was wearing the boots and scarf Brandon had given her, and was holding the box of chocolates close. She was smiling, and her eyes were watering at the same time.

"No one.. has ever given me anything... besides Otome.." She said with a meek voice. "Thank you... Brandon..."

"I'm glad you like it Kelly. Mary Christmas." The human patted her head.

"These boots are... really nice.. and the scarf is warm."

"Why don't you try the chocolates?" She nodded, and opened the box. She took out two chocolates, and handed one to him. "Huh..? But these are for you."

"I.. thought we could.. try them.. together," the Octoling said with a red face.

"O-oh.. of course." He also went red, and tossed the chocolate in his mouth while Kelly did the same with hers.

"So good..." Kelly said as the chocolate broke down in her mouth and the creamy center melted away.

"Well... I think we'd better let the newest couple have some alone time. We should get to bed anyway," Hannah said after snapping a picture.

"I can still here you," Brandon said. After laughing at him, the rest of the group started to head up the stairs. As Brandon turned to join them, Kelly tugged his shirt.

"Seriously.. thank you. It's been a long time since I felt... like I belonged anywhere."

"Y-yeah. That's the spirit of Christmas Kelly."

"Well.. what ever it is.. I appreciate it." She then jumped him and threw her arms around him in a hug. Before the bewildered Brandon could respond, she let go, and with a red face, charged up the stairs.

"Heh... I hope you get your wish and can see your friend again." Brandon followed them upstairs.

…

Earth 2020 O.S.C. (14,020 A.D.) Squidmas day.

The plan to change the future with live concerts had been a success. A small group of humans had survived the flood, and were able to stop the plans of Octavio and his co-conspirators. But the cost of this change was the previous memories and relationships that the humans and Inklings that had been sent to the past had built. A human and an Inkling were no longer the loves of each others lives, but instead were now like brother and sister. Kelly had gotten her wish, and the Octoling girl, Otome, was now a part of that future.

It was now Squidmas eve. One year after the battle against the rogue forces had been won. The girl, Callie, and her Cousin, Marie, were now major stars. But the cost of this new fame was a busy schedule and even more attention than when they were simple pop idols. The two cousins have been slowly drifting away from their friends and each other. However, on the day of Squidmas, Callie had received a note asking her to come to Cuttlefish's shack in Octovalley.

"We missed the Squidmas eve dinner this year.." Callie said with a sigh as she entered the shack. "Drake... Otome.. Levin.. Shara... Neptune... Marie... we had so much fun last year... Why did things have to get so gloomy?"

"That's what I wanted to know," Marie said as she came out from the other side of the shack.

"M-Marie?" Callie looked surprised as her cousin came out. "Did.. you send that letter?"

"I did." She nodded. "Drake... Otome.. and I, all want to know why you've been getting... distant with us.. ever since that incident in New Sardine."

"I- I'm not being distant! I-I've just been busy," she insisted.

"Then why did you miss Squidmas eve? You know that's a tradition we never miss. I even ditched out on that Squidmas special on that show I host that they tried to force on me."

"But... but I.. I didn't.."

"And you've been avoiding us too," a female voice from behind said. Drake and Otome were standing at the door, blocking her escape. "Do you have any idea how worried about you I've been?" Otome said with a hint of irritation.

"But... but I.."

"Callie..." Drake started in a calm tone. "Tell us what's going on."

"I... I..."

"Please, Callie."

"It's... because of work... really..." She muttered.

"What..? But.." Marie questioned her.

"I said it's this stupid job!" Callie shouted and they all looked at her shocked. "I hate it... I hate being a big star! All this pressure... this... attention... expectations.." She looked at Marie. "I've seen what people have said behind our backs... About you.. and me.. Why couldn't we have just stayed pop idols?!"

"Callie.." Marie walked up to her. "I didn't know it's been this hard for you."

"Marie... I.. I didn't mean to.." Her eyes started to well up, and she turned back to the entrance. "I'm sorry!" She started to run out of the shack, but a quick move from Drake prevented her from leaving. "Let me go!" She insisted, but Drake kept a firm grip.

"I can't do that Callie."

"But I hurt every one! I ruined Squidmas!"

"Callie.. we aren't upset. We're only worried about you."

"Yeah... though if anything, I should smack you for not trusting us," Otome said, and Callie looked up. "You should have just talked to us.. we're friends."

"I... I... uhhaaaa!" Callie leaned into Drake's chest and started crying hard. This went on for several minutes, and Drake simply held her until she stopped.

"Feeling better?" He gently asked.

"A little..."

"This is why you shouldn't keep that in... don't forget what happened to me last year... when I bottled up what happened to Hannah."

"Don't remind me of that," she said and looked up at him.

"S-so just talk to us next time, dummy!" Otome said and patted her head.

"I'm... sorry... I.. I didn't want to worry you.. or risk blowing up on you... like I just did."

"It's okay.. I'm just glad you aren't upset at me... especially with how the last splatfest went," Marie said

"No! I would never!" She said strongly.

"R-right." Marie went a little red. "And.. you didn't ruin Squidmas either."

"But... we missed squidmas eve... and the day is almost over... and I didn't.."

"They day isn't over yet, Cal. Gramps is picking up dinner on his way home from visiting grandma's monument at the shrine."

"R-really?"

"And that's not all we got planned." Otome grinned, and went outside. A moment later, she came back in with a large wrapped package, a small wrapped package and an envelope.

"Are these..?"

"Y-yeah. Y-you're my f-friend.. s-so here!" Otome passed the large package to Callie. Still in shock, she slowly unwrapped it and revealed a brand new roller. "I-it's the new version of the Krak-on roller. I thought you might need it, since all the weapons are being overhauled and replaced next year."

"I.. I do... Thank you, Otome." She finally smiled a little.

"The envelope is from me," Marie said. Callie opened it to reveal two V.I.P. tickets to the league championships. "I thought you and I could go together, since we missed the last season."

"I.. would love to.. thanks Marie." She smiled a little more.

"And the last one is from me," Drake said, and handed her the small box. She opened it and looked inside. The first thing she took out were a pair of crystal earrings in the shape of stars. "I picked those up at the trading post. I thought they would look nice on you."

"Yeah... you always did love watching the stars with me when we were kids," Marie said.

"They're very pretty, Drake... I love them." Still smiling, she took the old ones out, and put the new rings on. She then noticed that there was something else in the box. "Huh?" She looked in and started to pull the other item out. Her eyes went wide when she saw it. "Is... is this..?" She was holding a necklace. A necklace that held a jeweled ornament in the shape of a Blooper squid.

"I commissioned Fong to make that. I... just had a feeling you would like it.. don't know what came over me... And you don't want to know what I had to do to convince her to part with the materials to make it," he said.

"I.." Callie stared at it, and was hit with a wave of nostalgia that she couldn't explain.

"Y-yeah.. he.. had one made for me too." Otome said, and wore a similar necklace in the shape of an Octopus.

"I... I love it! Thank you so much, Drake!" She threw her arms around him again, and her old self finally started to return to her.

"Marry Squidmas, Callie," all 3 of them said.

"Marry squidmas.. you guys," she said with a sniffle. "But I don't have anything to give back.."

"You already did, Callie," Marie said, and she looked up at her. "I.. we just wanted to have you back..."

"I... I'll try to keep that in mind.. and never worry you again."

"Good." Marie gave her a sincere smile of her own. "And don't forget the Calamari County trip we planned for the summer."

"Yeah.." Callie continued to hold Drake tightly. Otome watched with mixed feelings, but eventually sighed.

"I guess it's fine... for now." After a while, they heard several grunts at the front door, followed by a familiar old voice.

"Hey! You in there bucko's? Lemme in! It's freezing out here!" Cuttlefish yelled.

"Well, that's Gramps. You ready to have Squidmas for real?" Marie asked.

"Yeah! Let's do it!" They happily went out to help him.

 **A\N: And that's it for the Fall of humanity Christmas special. Sorry I haven't been able to get my next project posted... which is way over due.. and I still am not sure when it will be ready to show.**


	5. Pink October

Pink October (non canon)

 **Author's notes: This takes place as if The Sins of Humanity never happened. Being fully caught up on Legacy is kind of a must, though.**

Earth 2021 O.S.C.

The halls of the Eden facility had gone deadly silent. The underground complex that had once contained the final hope of the elder race, was now lifeless. It could have easily been confused for being abandoned, had it not been for the bullet holes and pools of vital fluids. Lights flickered through the concrete halls, making odd shaped shadows that acted as if they were behind the disaster that claimed the human settlement. But shadows were only shadows, and were unable to stop the advance from the creatures that came pouring out of the airlock, once the door had been blown by an Octarian mining explosive.

"Move in and keep your eyes peeled, but stay behind the octopods!" The squad leader barked. Several walking robots scampered in front of her, and headed down the halls. What seemed like a full battalion of Octolings followed the robots down the halls, splitting off in various directions. The leader's squad thoroughly checked each room that was on their robot's path, but not a single soul occupied them. "Come on... Where are you?"

"Sargent Maroon! We found something!" One of her male subordinates called out. She rushed over to the other squad, while the rest of her group continued to search rooms. When she reached the soldier that called out, she found the squad gathered around a locked room, with the octopod jumping up and down.

"The medical bay?" She looked at the door symbols, and recognized the room she had spent the night in during her first encounter with the elder race.

"The bot thinks there's something inside, but we can't get the door open," the male replied.

"Alright, move it. Let me give it a try." The male backed off and Otome tried the door. It didn't seem to be locked, but the door refused to open. Thinking something was wedged against it, she took a step back, then slammed her shoulder into it. The door didn't even creak. "What the hell?" She tried to slam against the door again, but it still didn't budge. She then slammed her fist into it. "Hey? Anyone in there? Open up!"

"What do we do here, ma'am?" Another female asked, when they got no response to their knocks.

"Well... we've got no other option, if we're gonna get in there." Otome took out a smaller explosive and started attaching it to the door. Other squad leaders were reporting in, and not a single one was reporting contacts with human or Inklings. The only lead they had, was this room that the octopod was intent on leading them to. "Alright, every one back! If anyone is in there, get away from the door!" The group all ran for cover. Once the team was clear, the explosive was detonated with a deafening blast.

"I- I think its open, ma'am," the male coughed, as the group approached. The door had been completely destroyed. The octopod rushed in as soon as it saw the door that had impeded it was gone. Otome quickly followed behind it. The room appeared to be as empty as the rest, say for more blood, but she followed the robot to the far corner that was blocked from view, thanks to some overturned beds. As she got closer, she finally noticed the figure of a pink tentacled squid that was laying on the ground with her eyes closed.

"That's... Neptune?" Otome's eyes widened, and she hopped over the octopod to reach the girl. Neptune? Wake up! I know you're still alive, dammit!" She raised the girl into a sitting position, which caused her to twitch. She soon let out a low pained moan, and slowly opened her eyes. "What happened? Where's Callie? Where did that-" She stopped her line of questions when she saw something wrong with the girl's face. "Neptune.. your eyes!" The pink girl's eyes were completely black. She stared at the Octoling's face. Then everything went black, except for the figure that was etched into the dark pupils.

...

"Dah!" Neptune quickly jerked awake, and almost rolled out of her bed in surprise. "W-what the heck was that?" She sat up and breathed heavily. After several minutes of heavy breathing, her brain started to function again. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was almost 7 in the evening, and the very last day of October. A day that would have new meaning for Inkopolis, from now on.

"Ugh, what a nightmare." Neptune rubbed the top of her head as she slowly sat up. "I just wanted to take a quick nap before we all met up..." She forced herself to get out of bed, and after giving herself a slight tap on the tentacles, strolled over to her closet. She opened it up, and a grin slowly formed on her face. "And since I missed out on showing off my costume last year, its finally time to let loose the power of the little devil. She yanked out her home made outfit, and quickly changed from her clothes, and into the costume.

Around 10 minutes later, the pink squid was clearly enjoying herself as she caught a number of boys glancing at her. While the little devil horns she wore had been produced as a special item for this time of year, she still was a proud holder of the only full little devil outfit that included a somewhat provocative top and shorts, a set of small wings and an arrow shaped tail. "Heh. I can't wait to see the look on big brother's face."

The square had undergone quite a transformation in the last week. Various October themed decorations lined the buildings that all matched a certain human holiday. Inklings and even some Octolings, were all walking around in new gear items that matched the costumes the elder race once wore on this day, and many were taking their younger siblings and children to various doors to receive candy from the occupants.

"I can't believe you actually managed to bring back Halloween, just because I told you about it two years ago," the human known as Drake said, as he looked around the square. He reached up to scratch his head, trying not to knock off the source of his irritation off. "And get me to wear this stupid thing."

"I don't know, Drake. You make a pretty convincing Inkling." He looked over, and saw an Octoling wearing a witch's outfit, grinning at him.

"Very funny, Otome. I don't know how you and Callie talked me into this, because these fake ears and tentacles itch like hell." He rubbed his head again. The human had, in fact, dressed up as an Inkling, or rather been forced into it by a pair of over eager squid sisters and their Octoling friend.

"Yeah! You totally look like one of us!" A happy Callie said with a big smile. She and Marie were standing behind the Octoling, and each of them had dressed up as the Octarian versions of themselves, known as the Octo sisters. Behind them, Pearl was dressed up as an eastern looking zombie, while Marina had made herself a cyborg costume. Pearl was complaining about having to wait to get candy, when two more figures showed up. The first was a blue squid with a hockey mask that reminded Drake of a popular serial killer, and the second wore a full suit of medieval looking armor.

"Hey, hey! Awesome costumes, guys!" The blue one raised his mask, and Levin grinned at them. Especially you, Marina!" He gave the Octoling a thumbs up, and the knight lightly clapped him on the back.

"T-thank you, Levin." Marina smiled back. "It took me a long time to make this."

"Yeah, we know you love your machines." Pearl rolled her eyes a little. "But since they're finally here, can we get started? I need my sugar fix, yo!"

"Calm down, Pearly. The candy isn't going anywhere." Marina lightly giggled at her stage partner. "Besides, we're still missing-"

"Booo!" A voice from behind yelled, and a pink figure grabbed Levin's shoulders. He let out a high pitched scream, which made both Pearl and Marina jump. "Hope you like my homemade little devil outfit that I didn't get to show off last time!" Everyone else rolled their eyes.

"Seriously, Neptune? Again?" The knight opened it's face shield, revealing the orange Inkling known as Shara. "Are you ever going to grow up? You're an adult now."

"Hey, this and that are two different things!" She stuck her tongue out at Shara. "And besides, who cares about age when there's candy to be gotten, huh?"

"I like how this girl thinks." Pearl had a wide grin on her face, and looked as if she had found her soul mate. "And she's totally right! Everyone's here, so let's get to making our stockpiles, yo! I really need my fix!"

"Uh, Pearly? Aren't you a little old to be getting this excited over candy?" Marina asked with an awkward smile.

"Says the one that won the treat splatfest!" Pearl shot back.

"Arlight, calm down you three." Marie snapped her fingers while wearing her signature smirk. "Thigh night is young, but we should get started if you two really want to load up on candy so bad."

"Darn right, Marie." Pearl raised her hands over her head, looking even more excited.

"Anyway, Drake and Otome will go with me and Callie around the square. Why don't you five head down town together?"

"Whhhat? Why do we gotta split? And why does the fossil get to go with them again?" Pearl complained.

"Because we have to get ready before we all meet up at the studio later," Marie answered.

"And I'm too old for this crap, anyway," Drake added with a sigh.

"If you're seriously gonna tell me you're to old for candy, Imma bite you again." Pearl bared her fangs at the human.

"Alright, enough you two." Marie stepped between them to keep them from fighting. "Shara, you keep an eye on your group for me."

"Won't leave my sight," Shara responded and made a saluting gesture. Meanwhile, Levin sneaked up behind her, and while she was messing around with Marie, He rose up, and planted a kiss on her cheek through the side of the facial opening on the helmet. The flustered Shara attempted to wack him, but the cumbersome suit made that somewhat difficult. After laughing at their banter, Marie's group waved them off, and started collecting candy at the shops and houses that were around the square. Shara lead the other three Inklings and the Octoling pop star to the down town area.

"S-so what was it that we're supposed to say when we want candy?" Pearl asked when they reached her first house.

"It's trick-or-treat, Pearl. And I thought Levin had trouble paying attention," Shara sighed and lowered the face mask.

"Hey, its not my job to be versed in fossil Holidays!" She shot back.

"You sure like calling them that. Pearl protests too much, me thinks. Perhaps got the hots for one of em?" Neptune said with a grin, which only served to get the pygmy squid even more wound up.

"Quit squabbling or we'll leave you here. And that means no candy." Pearl glared at the rest of the group as she charged to the nearest door ahead of Shara. When the rest of the group caught up, she rang the door bell. A few seconds later, a mature but beautiful looking yellow female in her 30's opened the door, and Shara gave Levin a preventative whack on the back of the head to keep him from staring.

"Trick or treat!" They all said.

"Oh, what nice costumes." The female smiled and passed out candy to their sacks. Then she looked to Neptune. "Especially you. You look like you could really catch a boy with that." She winked at her, then passed a few extra pieces into her sack. Neptune grinned widely, and suddenly two small figures darted from between the female's legs. It was a pair of underdeveloped Inklings that were likely less than 10 years old. One was wearing a pirate costume, and the other dawned a ninja outfit.

"Moooom! When are you gonna let us go get candy?" One of the pair whined.

"Not until your father gets home. And you already had some candy," the female sighed. "Now get back inside." The pirate tapped the ninja on the top of the head with a fake sword, and the ninja chased him inside. The female smiled at the group once more. "You girls have a nice night now. Especially the lucky blue boy." She bowed and closed the door. The group turned, and went back to the street

"I kinda get what Drake was saying. It feels weird to be doing this at our age." Shara lifted the face plate of the helmet once more. "This holiday was really meant for young kids, I think."

"You disappoint me, Shara. You're never too old for candy. And I'm not passing on free stuff, just because you're insecure," Neptune responded.

"Can it, pink one." They moved on to the next house and repeated the process. About an hour later, they were heading back through the downtown area with bags full of candy. However, on the way back, Shara lead the way into a narrow alley.

"T-this doesn't seam right," Marina said after several minutes of walking through the passage.

"Yeah, you sure you got your directions right, yo?" Pearl also inquired.

"Hey, just leave it to boss lady. She never leads us wrong!" Levin cut in for his girlfriend.

"Levin, you know I love you, but don't start the boss lady crap again." Shara stopped at a small intersection. "And I know there's a way out of here, but-" She stopped when her eyes fell on a small mound of trash. Levin went to her side and took her hand.

"What's the hold up, Love?"

"Is that the new squidkon digital camera?" She pointed to the top of the trash pile, and there was indeed a camera sitting on top of it. "It looks brand new. Why would someone throw that away-"

"I got first dibs!" Neptune hopped over and grabbed the camera. "They threw it away, its free game!" Neptune turned the camera around in her hand. "Wow, this really is the new squidkon. Awsome!" She powered the camera up, and a few seconds after a logo screen, she was scanning the alley way, looking for something to snap a photo of. "Guys, check it out! This... uh, guys?" In her excitement, she hadn't noticed that the other 4 in the group had vanished from her sight.

"Oh, very funny guys. If this is a trick to try to scare me, its not working." Her only answer was silence. "Fine, I'll just play with my new and totally fresh toy!" She turned her attention back to the camera. She aimed the lens down the path the group had originally come out of. However, something on the screen caught her eye. Coming directly at her, was a small white, but transparent object.

"What the heck?" She looked up from the camera, but the white object was no longer in view. After several seconds, she returned her attention to the screen. The object was much closer now, and looked like a deformed transparent squid. "Ack!" In a panic, she snapped a picture of the object. The screen displayed a still frame of the object she had just captured on camera. Then the screen changed back to lens view. The object was no longer on the screen.

"D-did I.. Did I just hallucinate?" Neptune's normal demeanor was now gone, and replaced with one of fear. She browsed through the camera gallery to see if she had really taken a photo of a screen phantom. Sure enough, the object was on the photo. "I... I took a picture of a ghost? No freaking way!" As she stared at the photo, she heard a loud noise in the alley that she assumed the others had left in. Another phantom had appeared on the camera's feed, and it was moving much faster than the first.

"What the hell?! Ghosts aren't real! Go away!" She snapped another photo, just as the phantom was about to reach her. The figure appeared on the screen as a capture photo for a few seconds, before again disappearing. They alley on the screen was once again clear. "This isn't real... the others... the others aren't going to believe this.. after I kill them for leaving me!" With a flash of annoyance, Neptune headed down the path. During her walk, she raised the camera and scanned the alley to make sure there were no more phantoms. On the 5th attempt at this, however, another ghost had appeared on the screen. And this time it wasn't alone.

"Oh, screw this! I'm not payed enough to star in some ghost hunter show! I'm not payed at all!" With a yelp, she snapped a photo of the nearest phantom, and took off running. More than a few trash cans and other objects were overturned from the Inkling girl's flight. After a few minutes of running, she came across a low wall that was blocking her path. Not wanting to check if she was still being followed, she quickly changed forms to squid jump over the wall. It was unknown to her if it was instinct or luck that brought her to the back door of the studio when she landed, but she wasted no time in practically breaking the door down to get inside, and slammed it shut behind her.

"I.. I.. Made... it.." She panted and slumped down. Sweat trickled down her forehead, as she tried to catch her breath. The lights in the studio halls were on, but nobody was there to notice her. At first she didn't care. All she wanted was to get away from the phantoms, but then she realized why that was wrong. "Wait... where is everyone? We were supposed to meet here for candy time..." She slowly got up, but at the same time a door on the far side opened, and a pale looking figure limped out.

"Ahhh.. hhhhahhh.." It let out a low moan that made her tentacles freeze up. As it slowly trudged towards her, more starting coming out from the other doors, all looking as pale and dead inside like the first.

"W-what? I can see them with out the camera this time?" Nearly at the point of having a panic attack, Neptune aimed the camera at the nearest enemy and snapped a photo. The zombie like Inkling registered on the camera, but something was wrong. "Why! Why are you still here! It worked on the ghosts!" She snapped another photo, but the zombie kept coming towards her. She backed up, intent on escaping out the back door, but another zombie had appeared behind her, and was wearing a menacing looking hockey mask. Having realized her fate, Neptune collapsed and curled up into a shivering ball. The masked figure bend down and leaned over her head, just above her ear.

"Boo!"

"What the!?" Neptune jerked her head up, and saw that the figure had stepped back and raised his mask. Levin was standing there with a big grin on his face. She looked around at the others, and saw that they all had similar grins, and she quickly realized what had happened. Shara had removed her helmet and stood behind Levin.

"You had that one coming for a long time, Neptune."

"You! You! You Shark shits!" She spat with a mix of anger and amusement that they were able to pull one off on her.

"Two years, Neptune." Otome stepped up behind the couple. "Two years I waited to get you back for that little incident with the marker and my face."

"Seriously? You held a grudge over that for two years? How do you put up with this Octarian, Drake-" Neptune froze up with a sudden realization. "Wait, the camera! I took pictures of ghosts."

"About that." Marie spoke up from the other side of her, now that both her and Callie had gotten the pale makeup off their faces. "We had Sheldon rig up a special camera that would display ghosts on the screen as a filter. Cost a few good coins, too."

"I got the idea from an old horror game," Drake added with a nod.

"Then we planted it that alley that we knew Shara would bring you to. And we knew you couldn't resist something free and shiny," Otome finished.

"Y-you were all in on that!?"

"S-sorry, but it sounded like fun," Marina giggled a little while putting her hands up.

"And that was priceless! Paybacks a pain in the tentacle, huh?" Levin laughed while putting an arm around Shara.

"You are all soooooooo gonna get payed back for this," Neptune said with a bit of a growl.

"Now, now. Let's just go and have our candy. Neptune, since you lost your sack, you can have all the left over candy that the studio was handing out," Callie offered.

"You're damn right, I will!" Pearl and Neptune led the charge into the room they had all stored there candy in. After spreading everything out and inspecting their goods, it didn't take long for them to start sampling their stash. Levin and Shara were picking candy out of each others piles, while ignoring their own. Marina was trying to get Pearl to slow down to avoid having a hyper Pygmy in the room. Callie was holding up a suspicious looking gummy ball to Drake's face while Otome was trying to get him to sample some imported Octarian chocolate. Marie was simply laughing at the three while trying not to choke on her own hard candy. Neptune chowed down on her hoard of left over candy from the studio, while pondering her revenge scheme.

It would later be remembered how a bunch of girls on a sugar high were far scarier than any ghosts.

 **A\N I know this is a bit short, but I kinda ran out of material, since these one shots are getting harder and harder to write. The first part was the original ending to the silence one shot.**


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